Majority Of French People Say The War In Ukraine And High Energy Prices Should Accelerate The Green Transition

When asked to rank their energy priorities, French people expect their government to prioritise the development of renewable energies (41%) before focusing on energy supply diversification to avoid being overly reliant on a single provider (35%).

Energy savings also ranks high in their priorities. More French people than the EU average believe that citizens and companies must do more to reduce their own consumption (24% compared with 19%). This is especially the case among the younger generation (31% of 15- to 29-year-olds).

Tackling climate change and addressing high energy prices

To reduce energy consumption, French people are in favour of heavily taxing highly polluting goods and services such as SUVs and air transport (68%). They also support the indexing of energy prices to the level of consumption per household (63%).

If French people were to lower the temperature in their homes this winter, 47% of them would accept capping it at 19° C, which is the official recommendation (20 percentage points more than Germans (27%)). Meanwhile, 20% of French people say that they already cannot afford to heat their homes properly.

Finally, on addressing high energy prices, 43% of French people think that in the short term the government should reduce energy-related taxes (56% among far-right sympathisers). Other measures are less popular, such as capping or regulating the prices of gas, oil and coal (26%), or giving out energy vouchers (11%).

EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle said: “Ahead of the COP27 climate conference, the results of the EIB 2022 Climate Survey show that French citizens believe that accelerating renewable energy and energy efficiency measures should be the priority in fighting the global energy and climate crisis. At the EIB we have been supporting innovative clean energy investments for many years, such as floating wind farms and more energy-efficient social housing. We stand ready to use our full range of advisory and financial instruments to support France in a just green energy transition that leaves no one behind.”

Download the Excel spreadsheet with the raw data for all 30 countries surveyed here. Please click here to access an EIB web page presenting key findings of the EIB Climate Survey IV.

Background information

About the EIB Climate Survey

The EIB has launched the fifth edition of the EIB Climate Survey, a thorough assessment of how people feel about climate change. Conducted in partnership with the market research firm BVA, the fifth edition of the EIB Climate Survey aims to inform the broader debate on attitudes and expectations in terms of climate action. More than 28 000 respondents participated in the survey in August 2022, with a representative panel of people aged 15 and above for each of the 30 countries polled.

About the EIB

Since 2019, the EIB has accelerated its transformation into a climate bank by committing to devoting at least 50% of its financing from 2025 to investments that contribute to the fight against climate change and the mitigation of its effects. In 2021, it already comfortably reached this target in France by devoting two-thirds of its €9.2 billion in investments to projects in renewable energy, the energy efficiency of buildings and the development of sustainable mobility.

About BVA

BVA is an opinion research and consulting firm recognised as one of the most innovative market research firms in its sector. Specialising in behavioural marketing, BVA combines data science and social science to make data inspiring and bring it to life. BVA is also a member of the Worldwide Independent Network of Market Research (WIN), a global network of some of the world’s leading market research and survey players, with over 40 members.

Source – European Investment Bank