Prime Minister Jean Castex used a private jet to vote on Sunday April 10. The carbon footprint of this choice has not gone unnoticed. A petition reminds him that a power of attorney is probably more reasonable than emitting 4,000 kg of CO2.
The latest IPCC report shows that we have until 2025 to reach the peak of carbon emissions, and thus maintain the most optimistic climate warming scenario. This date is at the heart of whatever the next five-year term. It is perhaps for this reason that the jet trip of Prime Minister Jean Castex did not go unnoticed on Sunday April 10.
During the first round of the 2022 presidential election, the Prime Minister borrowed a Falcon to go to his city and vote there: departure at 8:30 a.m., return at 10:30 a.m., barely an hour on site but many photos for the press. For Jean Castex, the objective was clear, that of the symbol to vote in person in his city of heart. But another symbol has emerged: that of ecological unconsciousness.
The carbon footprint of a Frenchman over 6 months
” This is not trivial: the jets emit a lot of CO2. This is the carbon footprint of a single Frenchman over 6 months “, warns us Charlène Fleury, environmental activist, spokesperson for Alternatiba, movement for climate and social justice. She is at the origin, with other citizens, of an independent petition addressed to the Prime Minister: Jean Castex: don’t fly anymore, make a power of attorney. It only took 48 hours for it to reach 13,000 signatures.
” What shocked the opinion is that it was not necessary. There is a disproportion between everything that has been emitted as CO2, and what we did it for “Explains Charlène Fleury to Numerama. ” We understand that the Prime Minister may need it for pressing business, but it’s less understandable for a vote, staying on site for an hour, and only doing it for the photo. »
Charlène Fleury’s observation is true. Airplanes are a polluting mode of transport, in particular because of the fuel used, and this pollution is increased when it comes to a private jet, since the device is only mobilized for one person. In this case, the carbon footprint of Jean Castex’s round trip is evaluated at 4,460 kg of CO2: as a French person emits, on average, 32.6 kg of CO2 per day depending on his activities, we reached 4,460 kg only after more than 5 months.
” The Prime Ministerdid not understand the climate emergency”
The symbolism of this back and forth is a problem because it comes just days after the alarming IPCC report on climate change. ” This shows that the Prime Minister still has software from the past, that he has not understood the climate emergency “, believes Charlère Fleury. But what motivates the petition, she adds, is above all to be found in Jean Castex’s response. On RTL, the Prime Minister replied that ” the period is for controversy » and that he had acted according to « the usual rules “.
This argument does not pass, because it’s the usual rules that are the problem. ” We see that Jean Castex has not grasped the urgency, since he acts with the standards of the past. The purpose of the petition is precisely to “ tell him that it’s not a fake controversy, that it’s a dumpling “, and that he should therefore make a proxy in the next round and the next elections in order to ” change this functioning that comes from another time “.
There ” pellet of the Prime Minister can also be viewed in its social dimension. The latest IPCC report insists more than ever on the importance of a form of social justice to strengthen the climate, in the sense that inequalities contribute to the environmental crisis and hinder solutions. However, when Jean Castex spends a carbon footprint of 6 months for a two-hour round trip which is not necessary, this does not lead to a fairer and more equitable society in favor of the climate. ” If the French see Jean Castex abusing his carbon footprint, it undermines collective action “, believes Charlène Fleury.
