In the wake of many politicians, several environmental associations reacted to the appointment of Michel Barnier to Matignon, Thursday, September 5. Greenpeace France expresses “its concern” in a press release entitled: “The ecological and social renewal will not take place”. WWF France “urges the new Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, to strengthen the government’s commitments to the ecological transition and the protection of biodiversity”, wrote the NGO in a press release on Thursday.
Michel Barnier appointed Prime Minister: why did Emmanuel Macron finally choose him to form a government?
For Greenpeace France, this nomination “is part of the continuity of an ultra-liberal policy repeatedly denounced by our organization for its incompatibility with the challenges of radical transformation of our economic system in order to respond to the environmental and social crisis”, while “millions of citizens went to the polls to place the left-wing bloc, led by the New Popular Front, at the top of the legislative elections”.
On the choice of Michel Barnier more specifically, Greenpeace France recognizes a “sincere interest” on his part “for environmental issues and a concrete record on these subjects”, but “doubts his ability to respond concretely and quickly to the imperatives dictated by the current ecological crisis”.
“Greenpeace France activists will be in the streets on Saturday, September 7 to respond to the call launched by the Student Union and the High School Union for a demonstration against the authoritarian coup by President Emmanuel Macron”, the press release concludes.
Placing ecology “at the heart of government action”
The World Wide Fund for Nature believes that “the previous legislature was marked by serious setbacks, particularly in terms of fair remuneration for water, agricultural transition, species protection, and more generally, financing the ecological transition”. The WWF also points out that Michel Barnier was “Minister of the Environment and Minister of Agriculture” and asks him and his government to “put these issues back at the forefront of its actions”.
“The Prime Minister has the power to change things, particularly by placing ecology at the heart of government action to protect the French, create jobs and support resilient economic activity and agriculture”, believes Véronique Andrieux, Director General of WWF France. She assures that the WWF remains “fully mobilized for a finance bill capable of financing the fair and desirable ecological transition for the benefit of the French, particularly the most disadvantaged”.