Inadequate Organizational Tools for Environmental Dialogue in France

Extract

[...] Thus, on the one hand, a restructuring of the organizations involved in the environmental dialogue is being considered. In this perspective, it is envisaged to give a much more important role to the national commission for public debate in the implementation of this dialogue: it would constitute in this perspective the link between parliamentary actions, that is to say representative democracy, and participatory democracy embodied by the direct action of citizens. Furthermore, the creation of a true independent body, dedicated to the proper functioning of the environmental dialogue, has been considered in the end. [...]

[...] The development of access to the judge in climate matters is indeed a 'formal modality of environmental dialogue' that the French State has insufficiently developed. An opinion rendered on September by the Economic, Social and Environmental Council reports on this insufficiency: it notes that climate justice, as it results from the 2015 Paris Agreement, is devoid of any imperative scope because it contains no sanctioning mechanism. It demonstrates secondly that this justice is insufficiently accessible to so-called vulnerable categories, such as young people and migrants. [...]

[...] However, a revitalization of environmental dialogue seems to be emerging behind these pessimistic findings2). 1. The ineffectiveness of the National Council for Ecological Transition The National Council for Ecological Transition (CNTE), as described in the first part, suffers from serious shortcomings that prevent it from implementing an environmental dialogue with efficiency. Its main obstacle lies in its lack of legitimacy and publicity for its actions. It remains, in fact, a very little-known body to the general public, with very secretive actions and very weak publicity. [...]

[...] On the other hand, the emergence of comprehensive solutions is not synonymous with regained coherence. The example of the shared initiative referendum (RIP) illustrates this perfectly: often considered in environmental matters, it theoretically constitutes an excellent promotion of environmental dialogue, all the more so as it is inscribed in article 11 of the Constitution, it has acquired constitutional value. But the very strict conditions to which it is subject make it an instrument doomed never to be used. The submission to the support of at least 10% of the voters induces that it cannot be effective in practice, this 10% barrier seeming insurmountable. [...]

[...] What are the causes of the failure of environmental dialogue since 2016? Despite the political promotion of environmental dialogue, a simple look at current events is enough to convince oneself of the gaps in the implementation of such an objective. Certainly commendable, its materialization appears particularly difficult. Thus, the multiplication of protest movements, from Nuit Debout to the yellow vests, is often accompanied by demands for a more participatory democracy. On September the meeting of the Climate March and the yellow vests movement symbolizes the penetration of this demand into the environmental field. [...]