France proposes carbon sanctions on Kyoto renegades 14 November 06

Following in the footsteps of the UK, Australia and – partially – the United States, France has become the latest country to see climate change hit the political agenda in a big way. Whilst Australia had the biggest turnout for the 4 November demonstrations (40,000 people in both Sydney and Melbourne), and in the US climate-unfriendly legislators got wiped out in the recent mid-term elections (see below), the French electorate has so far been relatively quiescent on climate.

Not any more. Faced with a potential ‘green’ challenge from a television celebrity in the upcoming presidential elections, parties of all colours have been rushing to take global warming seriously. Most striking, the French PM Dominique de Villepin has proposed that countries which refuse to join up to Kyoto should see a ‘carbon tax’ on their imports – potentially a very powerful incentive for current Kyoto naysayers to come on board in future.

South of the border things are also beginning to move. In Spain every new building must now be equipped with solar panels – to generate hot water in domestic residences, and PV to generate electricity in business premises. There are also new regulations to tighten up energy efficiency standards, potentially saving 30% of so of a building’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Here in the UK we are all waiting for details of the new Climate Bill to be announced in the Queen’s Speech in Parliament on Wednesday. Word has it that year-on-year targets won’t be included – a big disappointment to Friends of the Earth, which has campaigned for a mandatory 3% annual carbon cut. We await the news with interest.