France's international commitments

France has signed up to several commitments under international conventions or European Directives aimed at stabilising or reducing emissions of substances into the atmosphere.

Protocols signed under these conventions enter into force when particular conditions are met, such as a minimum number of ratifications and sometimes the amount of emissions generated by ratifying Parties.

The emissions covered differ from one commitment to another, depending on the sector and geographical coverage. Regarding the latter criteria, mainland France is always covered and additionally, in some cases, DOM (overseas départements) and, in other other cases, TOM (overseas territories).

The current commitments are as follows :

• The Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution under the aegis of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (known as the Geneva Convention and abbreviated to UNECE/LRTAP). Several protocols have been adopted under this Convention relating to SO₂, NOx, NMVOCs and NH₃ emissions.
• The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (known as the Climate Change Convention and abbreviated to UNFCCC). Under this Convention, one protocol has been adopted and it concerns emissions (Kyoto Protocol). It refers to the Global Warning Potential (GWP) based on six direct greenhouse gases.
• The European Directive 2001/80/EC on Large Combustion Plants (abbreviated to GIC in French) fixes emission limited values for every plant with a thermal capacity of 50 MW or higher.
• The European Directive 2001/81/EC on National Emission Ceilings (abbreviated to NEC). This Directive sets national ceilings for SO₂, NOx, NMVOCs and NH₃ emissions from anthropogenic sources.
  
  

1 - Convention on the Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution (UNECE / LRTAP)

This Convention was adopted under the aegis of United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in Geneva on 13 November 1979 and entered into force on 28 January 1988. Under this Convention, emissions generated within mainland France are covered. Under the Convention, several protocols have been adopted to reduce air emissions of sulphur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen oxides (NOx), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) and ammonia (NH₃) and their impacts on acidification, photochemical pollution and eutrophication. These protocols set emission ceilings for each ratifying country.

Protocols under this Convention are :

• The Helsinki Protocol (adopted on 8 July 1985, entered into force on 2 September 1987 - ratification by France was on 13 March 1986) - France committed itself to reducing emissions of SO₂ by 30% between 1980 and 1993. France agreed to an additional effort i.e. to achieve a reduction of 60% along with 12 other countries that decided to further reduce their emissions byat least 50%.
• The Sofia Protocol (adopted on 1 November 1988 - entered into force on 14 February 1991 - ratification by France was on 20 July 1989) - the French commitment was to stabilise NOx emissions between 1987 and 1994. France committed itself to an additional reduction of 30% between 1980 and 1998.
• The Geneva Protocol (adopted on 18 November 1991 - entered into force on 29 September 1997 - ratification by France was on 12 June 1997) - France agreed to reduce NMVOC emissions by 30% between 1988 and 1999.
• The Oslo Protocol (adopted on 14 June 1994 - entered into force on 5 August 1998 - ratification by France was on 12 June 1997) - France signed up to a new SO₂ target for a gradual reduction of emissions (868 kt in 2000, 770 kt in 2005 and 737 kt in 2010).
• The Aarhus Protocols (adopted on 24 June 1998 - POPs : entered into force on 23 October 2003 and ratification by France 25 July 2003; Heavy metals : entered into force 29 Decembre 2003 and ratification by France 26 July 2002). The requirements for ratifying countries, including France, include reducing their emissions of lead, cadmium, mercury, dioxins, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and hexachlorobenzene to levels lower than those reached in 1990.
• The Gothenburg Protocol (adopted on 1 December 1999 - entered into force in May 2005) - known was the "Multi-pollutant, multi-effect Protocol". It lays down new ceilings to be complied with by 2010 which, for France, are (SO₂ = 400 kt, NOx = 860 kt, NMVOCs = 1100 kt, NH₃ = 780 kt).

Download Acrobat Reader file (pdf)

2 - Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC)

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol (adopted on 10 December 1997) - entered into force in February 2005) aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the period 2008 - 2012, compared to the 1990 level. For the European Union as a whole, the reduction target set is -8%. Within this EU "bubble", the target set for France under the EU Burden-sharing Agreement adopted at the EU Environment Council in June 1998, is to stabilize emissions in this period.

Emissions are measured on the basis of the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of a "basket" of six direct greenhouse gases : carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆).

Under the Kyoto Protocol, the geographical coverage for France is both mainland France and the overseas départements and territories (DOM-TOM).

see results  

Download Acrobat Reader file (pdf)

3 - Directives on Large Combustion Plants (LCPs or GIC in French)

Requirements of Directive 88/609/EEC of 24 November 1988 on Large Combustion Plants (LCPs) include a reduction of SO₂ and NOx emissions from "existing" combustion plants, falling within the scope of the Directives for each Member State until 2003. Emission ceilings have been complied with to a large extent.

The new Directive 2001/80/EC supersedes Directive 88/609/EEC which was repealed on 27 November 2002.
Main changes introduced to the Directive 88/609/EEC, are as follows :

• inventories maintained and extended include gas turbines and suspended particules,
• emission ceilings abandoned for "existing" plants beyond 2003, since emission ceilings exist for acidification, eutrophication and photochemical pollution,
• Member States may implement national reduction plans for "exisiting" plants which allow more flexibility in applying the directive.

see results  

Download Acrobat Reader file (pdf)

4 - Directive on National Emission Ceilings (NECs)

Directive 2001/81/EC of 23 October 2001 sets limited emission levels to be complied with by 2010 for SO₂ (375 kt), NOx (810 kt), NMVOCs (1050 kt) and NH₃ (780 kt).

see results  

Download Acrobat Reader file (pdf)

5 - Performance indexes

To assess compliance with the commitments or the current position in relation to the targets for the coming years, performance indexes (IP) are defined as relative ratios from the target as follows :

The results of 28 performance indicators concerning various past or future commitments are presented in the figure below :

How to read the figure:

Example with "Helsinki - additional - SO₂": the target has been comfortably reached because emissions are 14% lower than the commitment, that is to say 86% (0.86 x 100) of the target.

Example with "Gothenburg - NOx": current emissions (in 2006) are 1.57 times higher than the target to be achieved by 2010. In other words, it will be necessary to reduce NOx emissions in France by two thirds between 2006 and 2010.