[en] In a wide-ranging note issued in May 2014, La Fabrique Ecologique has already analysed the regulation of the energy market in this country, calling for the introduction of a French model of energy decentralisation. The energy and ecological transition requires a profound change in patterns of production and consumption, so as to encourage initiatives focusing on energy demand levels and the development of renewable energies. Compared with the workings of a centralised system, this requires a totally different logic. This becomes all the more desirable since technological progress is making it increasingly competitive to produce decentralised renewable energy, with small units being integrated into the electrical grid. It is particularly essential if we are to take a lead in the worldwide economic race that has arisen in these fields. A number of different laws and regulations have been progressively introduced. The first aim of this document is to undertake a full analysis showing that, over and above a certain number of positive measure, the centralised logic of the regulation of the French energy system has not changed. This situation is all the more paradoxical since local authorities, particularly in the major metropolitan areas, have multiplied their initiatives in the field. Another totally new factor that has arisen in recent years is the clear emergence of citizens' initiatives, essentially representing a change in public attitudes with regard to energy-related matters. As in other European countries, our fellow citizens have a growing desire for transparency and for control of their own consumption, and even for a capacity to produce their own energy either individually or collectively. These developments are positive so long as in practical terms they are directed towards coherent and effective solutions. In this new context, this document makes two proposals: 1) To give the regions, or sub-regional entities exercising powers delegated to them by the regions, real responsibilities in terms of decentralised energy systems. This proposal, taking up an initial concept first put forward in 2014, has now been made more specific in two major respects: an increased desire to develop citizen participation in renewable energy projects and their financing; and the possibility of experimenting with a regional supplement on purchasing prices, financed by regional electricity consumers. 2) To set the ambitious objective of doubling the share of self-production by 2022, in order to attain the same levels as our European partners in this type of operation. The scope for action in this field is now established by the law adopted in February 2017. A significant aspect still to be dealt with, in relation to a target that is by definition ambitious, is to establish stable economic parameters over the next five years so as to give a clear indication of the progress that needs to be made

[en] 29,000 giga-bytes - this is the amount of data published around the world every second. An unbridled growth at the root of what is known as 'big data', a volume of data so large that it exceeds the analytical capabilities of conventional computing tools. The ecological data contained within this is a valuable source of information in addressing the many challenges related to climate change (green mobility, energy efficiency, agricultural transition, etc.). Ecological data can be harnessed in a natural environment, in which case it is a measure of a natural phenomenon which, by definition, does not belong to anyone. Other data may represent a human or industrial activity, but one that has an ecological use. Many initiatives mostly originating from companies, large groups or start-ups are already using the potential of this data. However, there is a lack of coherence and especially of governance to capitalise on these experiences and achievements. This means that more than ever before, a joint, collaborative and integrated action is required. This action must be part of the double ecological and digital transition, two major transformations that sometimes conflict with each other, but which will have to be combined in order to meet the needs of our society. There are several obstacles to the efficient use of ecological data and data with an ecological use: difficulties in understanding techniques and data processing; an inconsistent mass of legislation that sometimes results in contradictory obligations; a lack of dialogue - or even a mutual mistrust - between the world of technology and that of ecology. Regulations should urgently be harmonised to both encourage and reassure stakeholders. It also seems essential to foster coordination at European level, even if it is difficult at this stage to define its parameters. Finally, to address the lack of awareness of this subject on the part of elected officials and the general public, the issue of education and awareness-raising is paramount. Two proposals are put forward in this note for a more efficient use of ecological data: 1) An exceptional status for ecological data: there would be a differentiation between ecological data and all other types of data, with the former being granted a free license by default, in order to be available to as many people as possible. This would help initiatives to emerge and circulate, so that the whole planet can benefit from the collection and treatment of this data. 2) A more intensive and operational application of data with an ecological use, notably through two measures: at local authorities level, providing a Green Data Officer to help local representatives define and achieve their objectives, with a strong guiding line - better understanding data in order to listen to citizens better; at State level, promoting data use in particular through the creation of a 'nudge unit' within the Ministry for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition

[en] France has set itself the ambitious target of dividing its greenhouse effect gas emissions by four (and has recently announced its renewed determination to aim for carbon neutrality by 2050). With this objective in mind, the Energy Transition Law of 2015 foresees the development of renewable energies to meet a third of all energy demand by 2030, with 10 % of total consumption to be provided by renewable gas by the same date. However, renewable energies are usually associated with the solar and wind power sectors. Renewable gases are often overlooked, despite their multiple uses (for heating, electricity production, transport, etc.) and their back-up role as an additional means of storing energy within the context of the electricity supply system. Yet these gases have many advantages for the energy transition, being perfectly compatible with the idea of a circular economy, as they transform waste into a source of energy while contributing to local economic development. According to the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) every megawatt-hour (MWh) of biomethane produced, injected and consumed leads to a saving of 0.2 tonnes of CO₂ compared with conventional natural gas, and the use of a 100 %-renewable gas blend could prevent direct emissions of 63 million tonnes of CO₂ per year by 2050. Such a scenario was still a distant prospect in early 2018, and while the process has now been set in motion, much will need to be done in order to have any hope of attaining the 10 % target set forth for 2030 under the Energy Transition Law. This note discusses why progress has been so slow in developing renewable gas supply chains, highlights their usefulness within the energy transition context, and proposes solutions to encourage the current government to further develop their use. We are presenting two proposals to boost the expansion of these supply chains and to foster the large-scale creation of future projects: 1) The number of facilities producing renewable gases from agricultural resources should be tripled by the early 2020's. We therefore propose that the current financial and regulatory requirements be made more flexible, and the involvement of the national committee for biogas production be increased. In return for providing a significant boost to this supply chain, it must be made more easily accessible to farmers. 2) A new road-map should be defined for Power-to-Gas technology, so as to allow for medium-term energy storage and contribute to the long-term harnessing of variable energy sources such as wind and solar power. To achieve this it will be particularly important to simplify current legislation on the production and storage of hydrogen and to encourage experimental initiatives throughout the country

[en] Buying your bread with Stucks, paying for your car-share with Y'ACA, or even swapping your wardrobe for virtual 'hazelnuts': alternatives to the Euro have been flourishing since the start of the decade. Driven by the boom in new consumer habits and production practices, as well as by the relentless digital revolution, the development of complementary currencies is gathering pace, with over fifty currently in circulation today. At some point in 2018, a regional currency is also due to be launched in Normandy. Whether based on an area or a theme, these currencies managed by structures external to the traditional banking circuit have a wide variety of aims: to revitalise the local economy, to restore social bonds, to encourage responsible consumption or to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The development of complementary environmental currencies CECs) in France could even provide a means of accelerating our environmental and energy transition. Because CECs could become a valuable tool for transition when used in conjunction with traditional public policy solutions. They have a trigger effect in three key areas: finance, networking of stakeholders and orientation of consumer and production behaviour. These three levers can be activated within different strands of government policy on environmental transition: food governance, protection of common goods, the circular economy and climate. So it's possible to highlight practical ways of using these CECs as public policy tools, and our aim in this summary is to identify concrete proposals for the deployment of this solution in service of the energy and environmental transition. Initially, they are focused on the institutional, public and private players, whose involvement is a key factor for the development of CECs: 1) To increase confidence in complementary environmental currencies by developing evaluation methodologies for their environmental impact in order to reinforce their credibility and highlight their benefits; and to set up a panel of experts to act as a label of trust, so as to encourage institutional players to commit to CEC projects. 2) To build new exchange circuits that include a great diversity of stakeholders and service providers, including SMEs, primarily by hitching CECs to regional economic cooperation hubs. The construction of these exchange circuits will also involve the lifting of certain barriers currently hindering complementary currencies. 3) Encouraging local councils to contribute to the development of CECs through the activation of various mechanisms, such as offering a guarantee on reserve funds, making payment for public services with CEC widespread, paying subsidies and social aid in CEC and allowing local taxes to be paid in CEC

[en] In our country, over 5 million households find it hard to pay their energy bills. Heating, lighting and transport are nevertheless essential needs, and one cannot lead a normal life if these needs are not met. Among these households, a certain number find themselves in a genuine situation of fuel poverty. They often rent their homes from the private sector and do not have the means to cover their expenses. These situations present social, but also environmental challenges. In the fight against climate change, the priority must be to eliminate the waste resulting from situations of energy 'leakage'. If sustainable solutions are not found, rising energy prices, which are necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and our carbon footprint, will be unbearably high for a growing number of households and will therefore not be implemented. The fight against fuel poverty has improved in recent years, and new measures formulated by the Energy Transition Law of 2015 are being implemented: energy cheques, energy-saving 'poverty' certificates, etc. But these initiatives are not widely used, they are not well coordinated, and most often they are only calculated on the basis of income. Yet the situation of a household with a low income but living in well-isolated social housing is very different from that of a household living in a home with high energy loss. It is now essential to introduce more clarity and coherence into this system, prioritising long-term solutions which are the only ones capable of reconciling social and environmental priorities. Urgent work needs to be done to tackle energy leakage, particularly in private-sector rental properties, and, as far as possible, we must avoid providing direct aid for fossil fuel use, since this is contrary to the aims of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. Following on from a rigorous and exhaustive assessment, this brief proposes, within the framework of current reforms as well as beyond, to: 1) Fully prioritise work on energy 'leakage' within private-sector residential properties, which mostly represent situations of genuine fuel poverty. The Fabrique Ecologique has already proposed introducing a requirement to tackle these situations; but, even if implemented, this would not suffice. Here, in addition to what is being done, we propose: -implementing a coordinated system to enable work on a moderate scale to be carried out rapidly, in order to make the dwelling heatable - a first step towards more extensive renovation; -planning for new energy platforms to act as a coordinated single-access point to tackle these situations; -creating the means to provide an almost full funding through methods such as energy-saving 'poverty' certificates and micro credit. 2) For heating methods which emit high levels of greenhouse gas, prioritise the use of energy cheques to cover the cost of thermal insulation or conversion towards more environmentally friendly heating methods. This provision would be introduced while hydrocarbon prices are very low, as they are today, and in situations where an operational alternative heating method exists

[en] Whereas France aims at dividing its greenhouse gas emissions by a factor 4, this note addresses the possibilities and perspectives of development of renewable gases which could be an asset for energy transition, and would contribute to waste valorisation and to local economic development. The authors discuss the ecological impact of these gases, and proposes an assessment of the situation of their development in terms of resource and production, of networks and storage, and of usages of green gases. They briefly discuss economic (impact and costs) and regulatory (present regulatory framework and its limitations) issues, and outline the importance of a large appropriation of local projects. Two proposals are formulated to boost the development of renewable gases in France: to triple the number of farm-based methanization sites by 2020, to define a road map for the Power-to-Gas sector in a context of development of wind and solar energy

[en] At the time of the COP21, the fight against climate change has been making international headlines. Yet, ironically, the subject of our countries' adaptation to the consequences of climate change has been all but forgotten, particularly in our own country (France). This brush-off could lead to serious consequences. It is why this note, based on a clear analysis, is raising the alarm and proposing new tools so that the various participants will be capable of meeting such challenges. The theme of adaptation to climate change has for a long time been dismissed by policy-makers because of the supposedly defeatist image it gives to the general public. It would indicate a kind of resignation in terms of mitigation. If anything, the opposite is true: action on adaptation accelerates awareness and also contributes towards mobilisation to improve mitigation. What's more, we do not have a choice: climate changes are happening and will happen in our country, and must therefore be anticipated. It is high time to stop denying it and make up for our significant delays in that field. In order to do so, this note, which will concentrate on the economic aspects, proposes an original method: a wheel of climate change adaptation based on the Deming wheel used by companies to favour a process of continuous improvement. This tool has the advantage of being able to be put into motion at whatever stage: awareness, evaluation and knowledge, action or decision. The detail of the three wheel revolutions highlights several administrative and economic obstacles, as well as numerous 'windows of opportunity', especially in terms of economics and network organisation. This wheel also highlights the importance of debating together over our resilience capabilities and initiates a dialogue with citizens about choices that will be inevitable. Three structural approaches emerge from this wheel: - Make a big qualitative leap forward in data and decision-making tools to enable the policy-makers to act, notably thanks to a redesigning of the ONERC (French national observatory on the effects of global warming) to turn this observatory into the motor of adaptation mainstreaming - Organise the financial sector and economic networks in order to spread out and absorb the risks. Since each network is unique, it will be important to reproduce and adapt pre-existing models of network structuring. - Be able to use collective mobilisation locations, by making a teaching and educational effort to convert existing structures to adaptation. Regarding water, this evolution could be driven by the Basin Committees

[en] The lack of funding is often considered, especially by public decision-makers, as one of the major reasons for the slow-down of implementation of energy transition. However, savings and cash flow have never been so abundant. With exclusive money creation, facilitated by very accommodating monetary policies implemented by central banks, financial markets are over-flown with cash flow. This paradox underlines that the issue is not caused by the lack of financial means but rather on the lack of tools favouring the allocation of such means to energy transition. Investments needs are considerable, ranging from 60 to 70 billion Euros each year, which represents approximately 3% of the European GDP. On the European level, expenses supposed to be dedicated to energy transition are valued around 350 to 400 billion Euros each year during 10 years, or, once again, around 3% of the European GDP. The issue is mainly to allocate investments differently rather than increasing their global volume. Public authorities are not able to manage such investments directly and on their own. However, while private players from the financial sector haven taken initiatives and commitments, these have so far proven insufficient in comparison with the scope of the challenge. It is true that public authorities have often avoided acting directly on financial players. However, finance is not a neutral tool and its players, being part of the economy, have a specific role to play. Beyond the necessary development of local and public funding mechanisms favouring sustainable development projects? which were not dealt with by the working group? this memo focuses on essential tools to create an efficient mechanism which supports huge allocation of savings on energy transition. Thus, it stresses out a global and innovative proposal with strong potential consequences, involving the implementation and the generalization of an 'energy transition' label for financial products, in order to enable the earmarking of savings to energy transition funding. To take all these elements into account, this measure will be completed by a series of regulatory, tax and incentive provisions favouring the possession of 'green' products: establishing a tax system approving individuals' green savings, rallying institutional investors and recognizing climate as a systemic risk in regulations

[en] How to appreciate, when the time comes, the results of the COP21? What are the elements that can make it truly useful? La Fabrique Ecologique and CliMates, on the basis of an exclusive and meticulous international survey underline them: the important part of an efficient climate action does not always rely on what we believe. The most influential aspect will be the commitment to future objectives and steps, strong principles of transparency and the extent of real domestic commitments for a new development strategy. A few weeks ahead of the COP21, what can we really expect? It is very likely that, as for the previous COPs, there will be an agreement, but we still need to see if it will be satisfactory. Facing the extent of the climate challenge and the complex negotiation, it remains urgent to have a clear and precise vision of what this international conference could bring. To measure it, La Fabrique Ecologique and CliMates have led an exclusive survey on the impact in recent years of the annual meetings of the COPs on climate policies of 16 States and 5 local authorities. This survey shows several paradoxes: the legally binding character proved to be not so binding after all; the sense of failure sometimes hid real successes; the negotiation itself having a strong impact on its results. It enables to identify the most important factors which have already led to action: the creation of shared knowledge and transparency standards, the obligation of setting an example for countries willing to be included in the negotiation, the search of economic and social co-benefits of climate action with a view to a new development strategy, the emergence of a global climate civil society. Far too often, the COP21 is presented as a deadline, a final date to solve the most complex and global challenge Man has ever faced: climate deregulation. Presented as the umpteenth 'last-ditch conference', the Paris negotiation might generate many 'climate resigned people', although it is aligned in a long term process which should be understood as a whole. This is why the note ends on two proposals: 1) The first one is to make known the main aspects of an interpretive framework of the COP21's results, enabling to realistically measure whether if this conference positions climate action on the right path. Beyond the obviously major issue of financing, three of them are essential in an agreement that obviously needs to be universal and accepted by all countries: - A commitment as accurate as possible on the long term objective and the future steps; - An agreement on strong principles of transparency and measuring, including on financial proposals; - The extent of real measures announced in domestic contributions for a new development strategy 2) The second one insists on the necessity of dealing with, inside or outside the agreement, little addressed but essential issues in the negotiation process itself. It is essential that the international community addresses the issue of fossil resources and more particularly the current very low price of fuel and raw materials, for example during the Summit of Heads of States which will open the conference. Besides, it would be very useful to strengthen the dynamics of local authorities, with the principle of a common measuring system, and companies. The note offers eventually that the sectoral commitments are planned and encouraged for the period up to 2020, which will not be covered by the agreement anyway

[en] This publication by a think tank specialised in social and solidarity economy first outlines that energy transition means a transition from the present energy model to a new model based on three pillars: a drastic reduction of energy consumption through sobriety (energy saving, struggle against wastage), an improvement of energy efficiency, and an energy mix based on renewable and sustainable resources. A first part proposes a discussion of what 'citizen' energy transition can be: general framework of energy transition, pioneering examples in Europe, citizen empowerment, importance of a decentralised model which is anchored in territories, general interest as a priority. Each of these issues and aspects is illustrated by examples. Then, as this evolution towards a citizen-based model requires a change of scale, the authors discuss how to involve public authorities and to adapt regulation, how to develop financing tools, how to support the emergence and development of projects, and how to be part of international dynamics. The author then discuss what their think tank can do to accelerate energy transition. Proposals made in the different chapters are then summarized