PARIS – As Emmanuel Macron approaches the end of his second presidential term, his environmental legacy is becoming an increasingly important political battleground. France’s left-wing opposition argues that ecology has been one of the biggest casualties of the Macron years, but the reality of the Macron environmental record is more complex.

Macron entered his second term with an ambitious promise. During the 2022 presidential campaign, he declared that his policy for the following five years would be environmental “or it will not be.”

Among the ambitions associated with his second term were planting one billion trees by 2032, renovating thousands of schools, expanding offshore wind power and developing a new generation of nuclear reactors.

Four years later, critics say environmental priorities have lost momentum amid agricultural protests, political instability and pressure on France’s public finances.

Macron Environmental Record Shows Emissions Have Fallen

One important measure provides the government with evidence to defend its performance: France’s greenhouse-gas emissions have continued to decline.

Official government figures show that national emissions dropped by 3.0% in 2024 compared with 2023. They fell by another 2.1% in 2025.

Those reductions demonstrate that France has made measurable progress on decarbonisation.

Earlier in Macron’s presidency, the government also introduced several major environmental measures, including legislation covering mobility, the circular economy, climate resilience, renewable-energy development and the revival of nuclear power.

The government therefore rejects the idea that environmental policy simply disappeared during Macron’s presidency.

However, declining emissions do not mean France is moving quickly enough.

France Still Needs Faster Emissions Cuts

France’s own climate strategy highlights the size of the challenge.

To reach its 2030 objective and remain on course for climate neutrality by 2050, France needs to reduce emissions at an average annual rate of around 5% between 2024 and 2030.

The 2.1% reduction recorded in 2025 was therefore well below that required pace.

The independent High Council on Climate has also issued repeated warnings. Its 2025 annual report said climate impacts were becoming more severe while the steering of climate action was weakening, and called for France to relaunch its climate efforts.

That assessment gives substance to some of the criticism directed at the government, although it does not establish that Macron’s entire environmental record has been a failure.

Climate Change Is Becoming More Visible Across France

The debate has become more urgent because the physical consequences of climate change are increasingly visible.

France’s first annual assessment of climate-change impacts reported that 2025 was the fourth-hottest year ever recorded in the country.

Two major heatwaves affected about 80% of the population, 78 departments faced restrictions on water use, more than 30,500 hectares were burned by wildfires and natural events generated estimated costs of €5.2 billion.

Mainland France reached approximately 2.2°C of warming compared with the pre-industrial period in 2025, according to the Environment Ministry.

Those figures have increased pressure on the government not only to reduce emissions but also to prepare the country for extreme heat, drought, wildfires and other climate risks.

Opposition Accuses Macron of Environmental Retreat

Macron’s opponents have increasingly focused their criticism on what they describe as environmental policy reversals.

The issue became particularly prominent during the severe heatwave in June 2026. Critics accused the government of failing to prepare France adequately for rising temperatures.

Macron defended his government’s actions while acknowledging that the work was incomplete.

Similar criticism emerged during the summer wildfire crisis. Opposition parties questioned France’s preparedness, while politicians from the Greens particularly highlighted shortcomings in adaptation to climate change.

The criticism is therefore broader than greenhouse-gas emissions alone. It also concerns biodiversity, adaptation, agriculture, public investment and the consistency of environmental policy.

France Is Still Planning a Major Decarbonisation Push

There are nevertheless important elements on the other side of the argument.

France continues to develop its third National Low-Carbon Strategy, known as SNBC 3, which sets out the country’s pathway towards carbon neutrality.

In March 2026, the High Council on Climate welcomed advances and the ambition contained in the draft strategy, while stressing that rapid and effective implementation would be essential.

France’s energy strategy also combines renewable-energy expansion with nuclear power. The government says emissions from energy production and transformation must fall 69% by 2030 compared with 1990 and 96% by 2050.

This makes the Macron environmental record difficult to reduce to a simple verdict of success or failure.

So, Was Ecology Sacrificed Under Macron?

Calling ecology the “great sacrifice” of Macron’s two terms is ultimately a political judgment, not an uncontested factual conclusion.

There are measurable achievements. French territorial emissions have fallen, major climate legislation has been adopted, and the country maintains ambitious long-term decarbonisation targets.

But there are equally measurable reasons for criticism. Emissions are not currently declining at the pace required for France’s 2030 objectives, the High Council on Climate has warned of weakened climate governance, and increasingly severe climate impacts are testing the country’s ability to adapt.

The fairest assessment of the Macron environmental record is therefore mixed: France has made genuine progress in some areas, but the gap between Macron’s environmental ambitions and the speed of implementation remains a major vulnerability in his political legacy.