Budget 2025: how can we combine ecological transition and social justice?

April 2025

Réseau pour la transition énergétique (CLER)

Why take part in the budget debate?

Amandine Lebreton-Garnier: The issue of the state budget is very technical but it is fundamental: revenue and expenditure shape a social project. The proposals drawn up by 60 organisations in the Pacte du pouvoir de vivre (Power to Live Pact) show that the issues are not opposed. On the contrary, the essential ecological transition is an opportunity for social justice. At a time when the political discourse tends towards simplification of the subjects and polarisation, we believe, as an intermediary body, that we have a role to play in maintaining social cohesion, restoring nuance and contributing to the debate by serving as a link between citizens and public authorities.

What are your proposals for combining ecological transition and social justice?

Amandine Lebreton-Garnier: It is possible to reduce the deficit while investing in our common future. The financing of a fair ecological transition, the reconstruction of our public services, the preservation of our health system and the maintenance of a high level of social protection are based on two pillars: the coherence of public policies and more fiscal justice.

In a context of public deficit, how can we continue to have expenditures that favour environmental disorders and others to repair the damage? It is a question of spending less where we spend badly. I am thinking, for example, of the tax exemptions for the aviation sector or the reduced rate granted on diesel for heavy goods vehicles. Finally, we must revisit the taboo of tax increases. Those who can afford to must contribute more: we are calling for the return of the solidarity tax on wealth and a tax on high net worth individuals.

What impact will this have on the energy transition?

Amandine Lebreton-Garnier: Today, there is cause for concern. The budget adopted in the 2025 finance bill represents a reduction in appropriations of more than 2 billion euros for the environment, and therefore a reduction in the level of funding for schemes such as the Green Fund or MaPrimeRénov’. If we look at the deployment of renewable energies or the number of energy-efficient renovations carried out each year, we are clearly not on the right track, and very far from the recommendations of the Pisani-Mahfouz report, which estimates that ‘the additional public spending induced by the climate transition should be between 25 and 34 billion euros per year by 2030’. Our proposals show that it is possible.

Reducing environmentally harmful expenditure and abolishing certain exemptions and business subsidies represents a potential saving of 20 billion euros. More tax justice translates into 32 to 55 billion euros in additional revenue! But the most important thing is how the money is used. The Court of Auditors looked at the 25 aid schemes deployed since 2021 in response to the energy crisis. It noted that this aid, mostly intended for households, was not targeted according to the income of the beneficiaries. This is a perfect example of the misuse of public money. Conversely, if we prioritise aid, and especially support, for households in a situation of energy poverty, we multiply the positive impacts on the climate, health, comfort, purchasing power, etc. Public commitment is clearly not up to the challenges. It is not a question of a lack of resources, but rather a lack of ecological ambition.

The Pacte du pouvoir de vivre (Power to Live Pact)

A collective that brings together some sixty civil society organisations working in the fields of exclusion, the environment, work, housing, education, the social and solidarity economy, disability, youth and health. What brings them together? Their determination not to separate ecological transition, social justice and democratic renewal.

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