Environment at a Glance Indicators

France

This country profile features selected environmental indicators from the OECD Core Set, building on harmonised datasets available on OECD Data Explorer. The indicators reflect major environmental issues, including climate, air quality, freshwater resources, waste and the circular economy and biodiversity. Differences with national data sources can occur due to delays in data treatment and publication, or due to different national definitions and measurement methods. The OECD is working with countries and other international organisations to further improve the indicators and the underlying data.

Context

France is the largest country by area in the European Union and among the largest economies in the OECD. France territory within Europe, referred to as “metropolitan France”, covers 550 000 km². It has overseas provinces and other overseas territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans as well as in the Antarctic. Its overall maritime domain covers 11 million km², most of it associated with overseas territories.

Thanks to its geographic position and its overseas possessions, France embraces a great diversity of land-based and marine ecosystems. Metropolitan France’s subsoil resources include a wealth of building materials, such as limestone, aggregates and gypsum. It also has an abundance of industrial minerals, including kaolin, potassium compounds and silica. However, it has few energy resources: the country rely heavily on nuclear energy. France has the highest share nuclear energy among OECD countries. France’s overseas territories are endowed with natural resources (marine, mineral and botanic resources, and high biodiversity). Metropolitan France’s water resources are unevenly distributed both geographically and seasonally, which can result both in floods and droughts.

The French economy had a high productivity, ensuring good standards of living. The economy is one of the most service-based in the OECD, despite its relatively diversified industrial structure. Some 80% of the population is concentrated in major urban areas.

Climate change

GHG emissions

Since 1990, the largest emissions reductions occurred in the energy and manufacturing sectors and, to a lesser extent, in the residential and tertiary sectors. The transport sector is the only one not having reduced its emissions between 1990 and 2022, even though the Covid-19 pandemic caused a significant but temporary drop in its emissions in 2020. The LULUCF sector has negative emissions, which corresponds to a net sequestration of CO2 by biomass and soils.

After rising sharply between 1990 and 2005, the carbon sink in the LULUCF sector has tended to fall in recent years, from around -50 Mt CO₂e in the mid-2000s to around -37 Mt CO₂e in 2015. Since 2015, the decline in the sink has accelerated, and it represented just 17 Mt CO₂e in 2021. This trend can be explained by an increase in tree mortality due to the combined effect of repeated droughts since 2015 and pests (tree dieback linked to bark beetles, chalarosis, etc.), as well as by a slowdown in stand growth, and by an increase in harvesting.

In 2021, GHG emissions in France, excluding LULUCF, represents 414.8 Mt CO₂e, of which 76.1 % will be CO₂ and 15.2 % methane (CH₄). This is 23 % less than in 1990. Transport is the biggest emitting sector in 2021, with 127.5 Mt CO₂e (30.7 % of emissions excluding LULUCF), followed by manufacturing and construction (18.8 %), agriculture (18.4 %), the energy industry (10.2 %) and centralised waste treatment (3.7 %). France stands out in the EU for its low share of emissions from the energy industry, due to the high proportion of nuclear power in electricity production.

Energy mix

Primary domestic production accounts for just over half of France's energy supply. Although France now imports almost all the fossil fuels it consumes and has gradually diversified their geographical origin, the introduction of the nuclear power programme has enabled it to export electricity for some forty years. Electricity and natural gas, which emit fewer greenhouse gases than oil and coal, have gradually replaced the latter in the main sectors of economic activity, although oil is still predominant in transport. Renewable energies are playing a growing role in the national energy mix, accounting for 24 % of primary energy production in France in 2021.

Excluding the health crisis, France's energy consumption has been trending slightly downwards for several years.

Air quality

Air emissions

Air quality in France is improving as a result of the reduction in pollutant emissions. This progress follows the implementation over several years of strategies and action plans in various sectors of activity. Average annual concentrations of pollutants are falling, and the number of areas where health-related air quality thresholds are exceeded is decreasing. However, regulatory air quality thresholds for the protection of human health continue to be exceeded, particularly for ozone, nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter with a diameter of 10 μm (PM10) or less.

Unlike SO₂, the sources of emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO_x) and particulate matter are multiple and diffuse, which complicates the implementation of measures to reduce these emissions and makes their reduction more gradual. NO_x, which includes nitrogen monoxide (NO) and NO₂, comes mainly from combustion processes. Their emissions fell by 60 % over the period 2000-2021. The progress made in the road transport sector is one of the main reasons for this decrease: renewal of the vehicle fleet, gradual fitting of catalytic converters and development of other reduction technologies. These advances have offset the increase in traffic and the growth in the number of vehicles on the road.

Over the period 2000-2021, emissions of PM10 and PM_2.5 fell by 53 % and 62 % respectively. This trend can be explained by the progress made in all sectors of activity, such as the refinement of dedusting techniques in industry and the improved performance of biomass combustion plants. Over the same period, emissions of non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), which are notably involved in the formation of O₃, have been reduced by 53 %, with a more marked reduction between 2000 and 2010. These compounds are mainly released by agricultural activities and the use of solvents in industry and the residential and tertiary sectors. Vegetation is also a major source of NMVOCs.

According to the latest estimate published in 2021 by Santé publique France (French National Public Health Agency), nearly 40 000 deaths from non-accidental causes are attributable each year to exposure of people aged 30 or more, to PM_2.5 in France.

Freshwater resources

Intensity of use of freshwater resources

Over the period 1990-2018, the annual volume of renewable freshwater saw a decrease from 2002 on the mainland and a regional variability across sub-basins. Between 1959 and 2018, the most remarkable change was the increase in evapotranspiration at the annual and seasonal levels: this increase was observed in the majority of sub-basins in autumn and winter and in all sub-basins in spring. During this period, the annual volume of renewable freshwater from precipitation decreased in 41 % of the sub-basins, almost all of which are located in the south of France. The most vulnerable regions in terms of access to water are located mainly in the west. Some of them were frequently subject to severe water use restrictions during the period 2012-2020.

The volume of freshwater abstracted (excluding hydropower) has decreased to about 25 billion m³ per year, with an overall downward trend. Over half of these withdrawals are used to cool power plants. Abstractions for drinking water and the supply of navigation canals each represent between 15 % and 19 % of usage, depending on the year, those for irrigation between 7 % and 12 %, while industrial abstractions account for around 7%.

Some of the water abstracted is not returned to the environment after use. The estimated proportion of returned and consumed water varies greatly depending on the use. According to estimates, the average annual volume of water consumed between 2010 and 2020 is estimated at 4.1 billion m³ in mainland France. Agriculture is the main water-consuming activity (58 % of the total), ahead of drinking water (26 %), power plant cooling (12 %) and industrial uses (4 %), with a variable distribution depending on the river basin.

Abstractions for the production and distribution of drinking water are on a downward trend, with a break in time series in 2007: average annual abstractions have fallen from 5.93 billion m³ over the period 1994-2007 to 5.36 billion m³ since 2007. The volumes abstracted per person have fallen, from 103 m³/inhabitant in 2003 to 82 m³/inhabitant in 2020 (-20 %). Groundwater will account for 67 % of these abstractions in 2020.

In 2022, France had 22 704 wastewater treatment plants representing a total load of 79 million population equivalent units (p.e.), for a total treatment capacity of 105.8 million p.e. France's wastewater treatment policy, based on bringing collection systems and wastewater treatment plants into compliance, contributes to the quality objectives for aquatic environments and sensitive uses.

Waste, materials and circular economy

Municipal waste

Material consumption

In 2021, France's apparent domestic material consumption (DMC), equal to domestic material extraction (650 million tonnes - Mt) plus imports (355 Mt, mainly fossil energy resources and metal ores) minus exports (213 Mt, mainly agricultural products), will be 792 Mt. At its peak in 2007, the last year of strong growth in the construction sector before the economic and financial crisis of 2008, this consumption was close to 910 Mt. Half of this is made up of construction materials (gravel and sand, aggregates) needed for transport infrastructure and buildings.

France has set itself the target of increasing its material productivity (ratio of GDP to DMC) by 30 % over the period 2010-2030, which amounts to producing more value from fewer primary raw materials. In 2021, this productivity will reach 2.9 euros per kilo (€/kg), an increase of 10 % since 2010, and almost 27 % compared with 2007 (€2.3/kg).

Apparent domestic extraction corresponds to the materials extracted or produced on French territory and used by the economy. It will amount to 575 Mt in 2020 (water not included). The extraction of non-metallic minerals (industrial or used mainly in construction: gravel, sand, slate, sandstone, granite, etc.) alone will account for 343 Mt in 2020, i.e. almost 60 % of domestic extraction, and 5.1 tonnes per person. The minerals extracted are mainly used in construction, and consist largely of gravel and sand. In comparison, the extraction of metal ores (iron, gold, aluminium, uranium, etc.) is low (around 0.2 Mt).

Biodiversity

Protected areas

In France, 8 % of land (source: TERUTI) has been artificialised, with sealed soils (infrastructure, car parks, buildings) or highly anthropised soils (extraction of materials, landfill sites, artificialised green spaces, sports facilities). This surface area is constantly increasing, even if the rate of artificialisation is slowing compared with the early 2000s.

By 2022, 17 % of the species on the national Red List are extinct or threatened. In mainland France, between 1989 and 2021, populations of common birds specialising in agricultural environments fell by 36 %, those in built-up environments by 33 % and those in forest environments by 2 %. Between 2006 and 2021, the population of the most common bats fell by 43 %. One of the main causes of these trends is the degradation of natural environments. Between 1990 and 2018, almost 60,000 hectares of meadows, lawns and natural pastures in mainland France were lost to artificial development. Intensive farming practices, agricultural abandonment and the closure of open spaces threaten biodiversity. Climate change is also affecting biodiversity. The resulting acidification of the oceans is threatening coral reefs in particular. Another factor in the erosion of biodiversity is the fact that 60 of the 100 species considered to be the most invasive in the world are already present in the French overseas “départements” and territories.

In response to the pressures and threats weighing on ecosystems, numerous initiatives have been undertaken at all levels. Protective measures have been put in place under the impetus of strategies to create protected areas. In March 2023, there were 6 043 protected areas in mainland France, organised around 17 land protection tools. These include strong regulatory protection, including the core areas of national parks, nature reserves (national, regional or Corsican), protection orders (for biotopes, geotopes or natural habitats) and biological reserves. In 2023, these systems will cover 8 743 km² (i.e. 0.95 % of the land and sea area of mainland France). Other categories of conservation measures (conventional protection such as regional nature parks, land management actions, the European Natura 2000 network) complete this arsenal.

References and further reading

https://www.statistiques.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/english-contents

Key Figures on Climate – France, Europe and Worldwide – 2023 Edition

Chiffres clés de l'énergie - Édition 2023

Chiffres clés des énergies renouvelables - Édition 2023

Bilan de la qualité de l'air extérieur en France en 2021

Les prélèvements d'eau douce : principaux usages en 2020 et évolution depuis 25 ans en France

Évolutions de la ressource en eau renouvelable en France métropolitaine de 1990 à 2018

https://assainissement.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/

Indicateurs clés pour le suivi de l'économie circulaire - Édition 2021

Bilan 2020 de la production de déchets en France

Les matières mobilisées par l’économie française en 2020

Les échanges commerciaux français de matières premières de recyclage, de 1999 à 2021

Biodiversité - Les chiffres clés – Édition 2018

Les protections des espaces naturels terrestres et marins en France en 2021

https://naturefrance.fr/