France to ban heated café terraces in citizen-driven anti-pollution initiative

Heated terraces at French bars and restaurants are to be outlawed starting next year, as part of a package of measures called for by a citizens' climate assembly aimed at reducing carbon emissions unveiled by the government on Monday.

A thing of the past: if you want to sit here next winter, remember to wear a warm coat. AFP

"You can't air condition an entire street in high summer when it's 30 degrees Celcius," said French ecology minister, Barbara Pompili, on Monday. "And you can't heat café terraces in the depths of winter."

Pompili was explaining one of the key decisions taken earlier on Monday by the French government's Ecological Defence Council. The council decision follows a demand for the closure of heated café terraces by the Citizens' Convention on Climate.

According to the ecology activist group Negawatt, one terrace with five gas heaters going all winter emits as much carbon dioxide as a car travelling 120,000 kms.

Presidential pledges on climate

President Emmanuel Macron has pledged bold action to tackle climate change, saying such efforts will be at the heart of the economic stimulus plan to help France recover from the Covid-19 crisis.

Following last year's Yellow Vest anti-government protests, the French leader set up a Citizens' Convention on Climate. The 150 randomly picked members announced dozens of proposals last month, including the ban on heating outdoor seating areas.

Café owners turned to outdoor seating when France extended its indoor smoking ban to restaurants and bars in 2008. Environmental activists deplored the change, saying it was a wasteful use of electricity or natural gas.

Paris refuses to ban terrace heaters

While a handful of French cities have already banned heated terraces, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has refused, saying businesses stand to lose a huge chunk of their revenues.

"People now understand that we are at risk and that, if we don't do anything, we'll have an ecological crisis after this health crisis," Macron's new Environment Minister Barbara Pompili told French daily Le Monde on Monday.

Among other measures to be introduced by decree in the coming months, building owners will be encouraged to improve insulation, and will be prohibited from installing coal or fuel oil furnaces.

Le changement climatique est un fait social et politique. Arrêtez de vous défausser en permanence sur les comportements individuels au lieu de changer de politique. C'est irresponsable. https://t.co/0aL7cUZTyj

— Clément Sénéchal (@ClemSenechal) March 7, 2019

No outright ban on shopping centres

New limits on development will also be rolled out to limit the "concreting" of natural areas, though the government held back from an outright ban against new shopping malls outside cities.

The measures, which emerged after a meeting of Macron's environmental defence council of top ministers on Monday, got a lukewarm response from environmental groups.

Clement Senechal of Greenpeace France said the proposals "push back any real change until 2023, after the end of Macron's term".