Grégory Doucet l’annonce depuis cet automne : la Ville de Lyon veut emmener l’ensemble du territoire municipal vers le « zéro carbone » en 2030. Dans l’idée du maire écologiste, à cette date, ce n’est pas seulement la collectivité qui ne devra plus émettre de gaz à effet de serre mais aussi l’ensemble des activités humaines situées dans Lyon intra muros. Pour lancer cette démarche, la municipalité va déposer fin janvier sa candidature au programme européen des « 100 Villes climatiquement neutres ».

The bar is placed high, even very high.In the minds of the mayor of Lyon and his team, reaching carbon neutrality in 2030 does not consist in planting trees in Amazon to compensate for Lyonnais programs but tend towards zero CO2 emission.In other words, no more fossil fuels in Lyonnais territory.This means in particular no vehicle with thermal engine (diesel vehicles will be prohibited in 2026) and more natural gas in the apartments.

This 2030 objective was announced last November in municipal council.It follows the "Declaration of Climate Emergency" of March 2021 and the presentation of the mandate investment plan of 1.25 billion euros placed under the sign of the "ecological transition".

Lyon leaves from afar to be a “climately neutral city” in 2030

To launch this approach, the City of Lyon will therefore submit its candidacy at the end of January to become one of the 100 "climaticly neutral" European cities.This program is part of the European Green New Deal which has set a target for reducing at least 55% of greenhouse gases by 2030.The cities selected will be considered by the Commission as being able to go beyond this objective "Fit for 55".

The city of Lyon leaves from afar.The community produces 150,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent but the territory of Lyon intra muros produces 5 million tonnes of CO2 (mainly on travel, in heating but also in imported goods), or about 10 tonnes per capita.

This rapprochement between the starting point and the finish line shows the level of ambition.What is more, the reduction must be carried out in only eight years.

If Lyon is retained by the European Commission, the City will benefit from project funding - "but it will not be the jackpot," warns the mayor - and tools to help the governance of the process.

If the candidacy of Lyon is not retained, Grégory Doucet warned that "the approach will be worth whatever the position in the classification".Clearly: for the Lyon green executive, this application is worth commitment: "carbon neutrality" in 2030.

To reach carbon neutrality, the city of Lyon must count on "partners"

In hollow, this program highlights all the difficulty of an approach carried by a community, especially in a very centralized country and always presenting an administrative millefeuille.How to reach carbon neutrality even when the State does not respect the Paris agreement?How, for example, developing rail freight or the RER in Lyonnaise, while rail competence is shared by the State and the Region?

The city can count on the Metropolis of Lyon, with a president of the same political edge as the mayor.But future deadlines can rebound these cards, especially in 2026 during the next local elections (municipal and metropolitan).

For the moment, carbon neutrality is only targeted in 2050 by the metropolis.His vice-president delegated to the climate, Philippe Guelpa-Bonaro, described the contours of a distribution of roles between the two communities, according to the last climate plan adopted before the 2020 elections:

The Lyon municipality is therefore project manager.The success of this objective will reside in its ability to cause public or private "partners" on which it has little or no taking.

The ecologist Grégory Doucet is still optimistic, even if he believes that the "government will have to do his share of the job".Unsurprisingly, he believes that his own mayor "job" would be facilitated if Yannick Jadot rather than Emmanuel Macron or another candidate is elected in April 2022.

Even in the case of a French government of a political color different from his, the mayor of Lyon believes.It gives the example of river transport:

An isolated or locomotive city in Lyon of the ecological transition?

Do environmentalists want to go too fast?Will there be blockages from the inhabitants or shuttles who come to work in Lyon daily with their car?

The mayor of Lyon, like his Ecological Transition assistant, already repeat it since their electoral campaign which allowed them to win in 2020:

Sylvain Godinot continues:

Even if many skills are elsewhere, especially at the metropolis, the Ecological Transition assistant believes in "the citizen training capacity" of the city.

In addition to the "social acceptability" of binding measures taken quickly, the other pitfall is that Lyon becomes a kind of island in the middle of a very carbonated territory.

Vice-president of the Metropolis, Philippe Guelpa-Bonaro, sweeps away the nevertheless concrete possibility of isolation:

It highlights the role of "locomotive for other cities of the agglomeration and elsewhere".

To achieve the "carbon neutrality" goal in Lyon, a "gigantic teamwork" to be carried out

As the mayor of Lyon himself pointed out, "the challenge is gigantic".Especially since it must be noted not only by the community but also by people who live, work or tourism in Lyon.

In its communication on the candidacy submission, the city of Lyon insisted heavily on this "city which federates" and invited under the gold of the town halls of the town hall the representatives of the first 70 partners.And again, Covid obliges, the raout to launch this candidacy which took place on Tuesday January 18 at the town hall was limited to a limited committee and a few speeches.

To show its ability to take on a majority of territorial players with this "carbon neutrality" objective -which is at the heart of the application assessment -the municipality has highlighted actors from all horizons.Not only ecological associations but also employer institutions such as the CCI or large companies such as Bouygues Bâtiment, Vinci Immobilier, GRDF, Arkea Banque or even Boehringer Ingelheim.

If the candidacy of Lyon is selected, will have to be held in the spring of participatory workshops with, at least, everyone to develop a "climate city contact".Each partner will then have to undertake to strengthen their actions to achieve the 2030 goal.

Grégory Doucet, particularly optimistic, hammered it:

"We will find points of convergence, this is a question of method"

It is the tomorrows of this candidacy - retained or not - on the program "Climately neutral city" that promised to be complicated.

Met by rue89Lyon on the sidelines of the launch party, the president of the CCI of Lyon, is not quite on the same line as the ecological executive.

Asked about the "zero fossil energy" objective advocated by the town hall to reach carbon neutrality, Philippe Valentin was not frankly enthusiastic:

In this candidacy to be part of the "neutral climate and smart cities" -exact expression of the program -he prefers to retain the expression "intelligent city" only "climately neutral" or "zero carbon", put forward by elected environmentalists.

The representative of the Lyon bosses concluded by insisting on his desire to "participate collaboratively, with a pragmatic approach":

During these meetings, it will indeed take a lot of dialogue and method to bring closer to the always very divergent points of view.