France
TOTAL POPULATION
66.3 million YEAR 2014
CO2 EMISSIONS
303,300 kt COUNTRY, YEAR 2014
3,241,800 kt European Union, YEAR 2014
“A 40% domestic reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.”
PARIS AGREEMENT TARGET
Gozo Biova donated € 10 to Program to Combat Deforestation and desert advance in Niger . Elizabet Zhivkova donated € 200 to Help Build a Sustainable Art Community in Ghana . Microplastics: Macroproblems donated € 190 to In Your Face . Robby Block donated € 200 to In Your Face . Kanfideni Raissa donated € 10 to Program to Combat Deforestation and desert advance in Niger . Laurent Cousinier donated € 100 to Help Small Forest Owners in France Maintain Their Land . Rolf Jansen donated € 150 to Help Facilitate Coexistence Between Elephants and Small Holders in Sabah . Thomas Kerby donated € 150 to Help Facilitate Coexistence Between Elephants and Small Holders in Sabah . thomas kerby donated € 170 to Bringing Back Forests In Kenya . Carsten Roland donated € 10 to Empower Female Farmers in Nigeria with Solar-Powered Drying Tents . Carsten Roland donated € 10 to Empower Female Farmers in Nigeria with Solar-Powered Drying Tents . Carsten Roland donated € 10 to Empower Female Farmers in Nigeria with Solar-Powered Drying Tents . Carsten Roland donated € 10 to Empower Female Farmers in Nigeria with Solar-Powered Drying Tents . Carsten Roland donated € 10 to Empower Female Farmers in Nigeria with Solar-Powered Drying Tents . Afrodita Bojadjieva donated € 10 to Bringing Back Forests In Kenya . Alina Iakovleva donated € 15 to Bringing Back Forests In Kenya . Nathan Bonnisseau donated € 5 to In Your Face . Sara Snaell donated € 1,000 to In Your Face . Sara Snaell donated € 1,000 to In Your Face . Sara Snaell donated € 1,000 to Recycled Electronics for German School Children . Abhijit Agarwal donated € 25 to Recycled Electronics for German School Children . Zero Waste Event donated € 78 to Promote Public Health in Mozambique through Safe Waste Management . Pub Quiz Event donated € 398 to Provide Eco-Friendly Stoves to Indigenous Guatemalans . Cocktails for the Planet Event donated € 1,594 to Help Rwandan Cities Control Waste and Stay Clean . Transmodernity Event donated € 113 to Empower and Facilitate the Youth Climate Change Movement in Iraq . Plan A E-Waste Event donated € 172 to Recycled Electronics for German School Children . Robby Block donated € 500 to Help an Indian Youth Organization Keep the Ocean Clean . Albrecht Schrader donated € 100 to Bringing Back Forests In Kenya . Albrecht Schrader donated € 100 to Help Lesotho Develop a Solar Energy System . Albrecht Schrader donated € 100 to Help Lesotho Develop a Solar Energy System . Konstantinos Dimitriadis donated € 5 to Help Build Eco-Friendly Homes for Rural Communities in India . Manon Steiner donated € 15 to Help Rwandan Cities Control Waste and Stay Clean . Bart van den Heuvel donated € 25 to Recycled Electronics for German School Children . Prateek Gogineni donated € 30 to Promote Clean Agroforestry in Rural India . Lluis Mateu donated € 50 to Bringing Back Forests In Kenya . Renato Anselmi Ricci donated € 50 to Recruiting 20,000 New Sagarmitra Student Volunteers . Donal O‘Byrne donated € 1,300 to E-waste Race Germany . Kiki Beck donated € 20 to E-waste Race Germany . Donal O‘Byrne donated € 1,500 to E-waste Race Germany . Farah Piryeva donated € 200 to CROWDFOREST: Making Reforestation Faster and Free through Unmanned Aerial Vehicles . Ruggero Lambertini donated € 75 to Recruiting 20,000 New Sagarmitra Student Volunteers . Iren Dikova donated € 50 to Recruiting 20,000 New Sagarmitra Student Volunteers . Vladimir Topencharov donated € 50 to Recruiting 20,000 New Sagarmitra Student Volunteers . Vladimir Topencharov donated € 50 to Recruiting 20,000 New Sagarmitra Student Volunteers . Luke Farrelly donated € 120 to Recruiting 20,000 New Sagarmitra Student Volunteers . Andrey Bankovski donated € 50 to Recruiting 20,000 New Sagarmitra Student Volunteers . Kalina Zhechkova donated € 50 to Recruiting 20,000 New Sagarmitra Student Volunteers . Anton Batchvarov donated € 50 to Recruiting 20,000 New Sagarmitra Student Volunteers . Stivian Valchev donated € 35 to Recruiting 20,000 New Sagarmitra Student Volunteers . Tatyana Mitkova donated € 30 to Recruiting 20,000 New Sagarmitra Student Volunteers .
PlanA Newsletter
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CLIMATE SIGNIFICANCE
France is feeling the heat, and its economic activities are too. In summer 2018, three nuclear reactors had to be stopped due to unprecedented heatwaves. In 2015, wine production fell by 20%. Needless to say, that created a reaction.
France and its territories have numerous natural settings, including tropical ecosystems in its ultramarine regions in the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Caribbeans. French Guyana, located on mainland Latin America holds the record for the best tree cover at 98%. Reunion island, a small island off Madagascar, that is also part of France, has 70% of its land covered by a UNESCO natural world heritage site.
A mix of regulations and local attachment have preserved the French natural and traditional rural settings. However, this appreciation has clashed with the industrial agricultural model supported by the government and implemented by large-scale agribusinesses. With a third of the EU’s cultivated territory, France is seeing a sharp increase in its land toxicity and signs of soil exhaustion. Initiatives like the ones we support on this platform are working to create a new model of agriculture.
France has also made the choice to rely on nuclear power to ensure its energy independence. Nowadays, nuclear power represents 72% of the total electricity output of the country. Fossil fuels are down to 11% of the energy mix. Its government has announced plans to bring the part of nuclear power down to 50%, progressively growing its renewable sector.
As the host of the Paris Agreement in 2015, France has made its diplomatic stance clear. Can it transform its words into action and transition to a carbon-free economy? We bet it can, and it can help lead us all to a greener future.
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DATA INSIGHTS
France is classified as a high-income country by the World Bank. France’s position in the fight against climate change is better understood by looking at its history of carbon emissions and exposure to climate risk. The following plots provide an overview of France’s historic greenhouse gas emissions in perspective with global emission levels, as well as the country’s climate action and sustainability performance.
France Greenhouse Gas Emissions
France’s timeline of total GHG emissions and the percentage change since 1990
This plot combines 3 pieces of information measured from 1990 - 2012: The bar chart indicates the volume of the country’s GHG emissions, the full line shows the variation of this volume compared to the baseline 1990, and the dotted line presents the same variation, but globally.
Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and fluorocarbons are the main drivers of global warming. Between 1990 and 2012, the world’s emissions grew by 40%.
From 1990 to 2012, France’s emissions decreased by 10%. Nuclear power and the decarbonisation of energy generation in France greatly contributed to the drop in emissions. The energy sector is responsible for the largest share (68%) of France’s emissions. However, emissions from other sectors such as agriculture, energy and industrial processes reveal a decreasing trend.
Despite a downward trend in emissions, France produced nearly 500 million tonnes of CO2 eq. GHG emissions in 2012 (the third largest emitter in the European Union). This is equivalent to the amount of CO2 being absorbed annually by 2.3 million km² of forest (3.5 times the size of France). France is on the right track to reduce its emissions and become a carbon positive economy, but more work must be done to make further reductions to meet the stated targets - reducing emissions by 40% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. (Source: WRI, 2018; World Bank, 2018)
France Greenhouse Gas Emissions
France’s timeline of total GHG emissions and the percentage change since 1990

This plot combines 3 pieces of information measured from 1990 - 2012: The bar chart indicates the volume of the country’s GHG emissions, the full line shows the variation of this volume compared to the baseline 1990, and the dotted line presents the same variation, but globally.
Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and fluorocarbons are the main drivers of global warming. Between 1990 and 2012, the world’s emissions grew by 40%.
From 1990 to 2012, France’s emissions decreased by 10%. Nuclear power and the decarbonisation of energy generation in France greatly contributed to the drop in emissions. The energy sector is responsible for the largest share (68%) of France’s emissions. However, emissions from other sectors such as agriculture, energy and industrial processes reveal a decreasing trend.
Despite a downward trend in emissions, France produced nearly 500 million tonnes of CO2 eq. GHG emissions in 2012 (the third largest emitter in the European Union). This is equivalent to the amount of CO2 being absorbed annually by 2.3 million km² of forest (3.5 times the size of France). France is on the right track to reduce its emissions and become a carbon positive economy, but more work must be done to make further reductions to meet the stated targets - reducing emissions by 40% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. (Source: WRI, 2018; World Bank, 2018)
France Sustainable Development Goals Index (SDGI)
France’s performance on sustainable development
The SDG Index describes a country’s progress towards achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The SDGI combines indicators of climate action with other socio-economic development measures that contextualise a country’s environmental performance with the rest of its challenges and reality.
The global SDG Index score can be interpreted as the percentage of achievement of the goals.
Each dot in the plot represents a country and its score (y-axis). Countries at the bottom score lower on the index as the countries at the top. Sweden currently scores the highest at 85 and the Central African Republic scores lowest at 38.
France’s score of 81 is above the average of Western European countries. France performs well in terms of water quality, health and well-being and the quality of education. Despite being the front-runners in adopting the SDGs, France still falls short of addressing some aspects of sustainable development. This is mainly because France performs poorly on measures like reducing energy-related CO2 emissions and addressing electronic waste. (Source: SDGI, 2018)
The impacts of climate change vary by country and region. But wherever you are, local-level adaptation projects are necessary. You have all the cards in hand, now go explore our live projects and be one of the good guys.
France Sustainable Development Goals Index (SDGI)
France’s performance on sustainable development

The SDG Index describes a country’s progress towards achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The SDGI combines indicators of climate action with other socio-economic development measures that contextualise a country’s environmental performance with the rest of its challenges and reality.
The global SDG Index score can be interpreted as the percentage of achievement of the goals.
Each dot in the plot represents a country and its score (y-axis). Countries at the bottom score lower on the index as the countries at the top. Sweden currently scores the highest at 85 and the Central African Republic scores lowest at 38.
France’s score of 81 is above the average of Western European countries. France performs well in terms of water quality, health and well-being and the quality of education. Despite being the front-runners in adopting the SDGs, France still falls short of addressing some aspects of sustainable development. This is mainly because France performs poorly on measures like reducing energy-related CO2 emissions and addressing electronic waste. (Source: SDGI, 2018)
The impacts of climate change vary by country and region. But wherever you are, local-level adaptation projects are necessary. You have all the cards in hand, now go explore our live projects and be one of the good guys.
BE ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS...
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