Environment: Investments linked to the fight against global warming have fallen in 2024

Investments linked to the fight against global warming in France will fall slightly in 2024, mainly due to a drop in spending on construction, which is suffering, the Institute for Climate Economics (I4CE) calculated this Thursday.

Public and private investments will reach €102 billion in 2024, according to the I4CE classification, compared to €108 billion in 2023 and €103 billion in 2022. "This decline primarily concerns high-performance construction and energy renovation ," explained the association, founded by the Caisse des Dépôts and the French Development Agency.

The number of constructions slowed down

The explosion in interest rates in the wake of the 2021-2023 inflationary wave has in fact slowed the number of constructions, but also of real estate purchases, which are "often the occasion for energy renovations", according to the I4CE.

Another sensitive point: offshore wind power, which "marked a dip in 2024, at the junction of project schedules, after numerous connections in 2023." The same goes for the injection of biomethane, – which makes it possible to green the use of natural gas – , in "a marked decline, mainly after the reduction in public purchase prices" in recent years, "which is having repercussions today."

Electric car purchases also declined in 2024, with new vehicle registrations down almost 3% compared to 2023.

“Investments in electricity networks” are progressing

On the positive side, "spending on the nuclear fleet is increasing with the completion of the Flamanville project " noted the I4CE – the EPR was connected to the network at the end of 2024, 12 years late – , as are "investments in electricity networks", with managers RTE and Enedis having initiated plans to adapt electricity networks to climate hazards and support decarbonization.

Photovoltaics are "supported by favorable conditions for self-consumption," the I4CE also pointed out, and "investments in transport infrastructure have been driven upwards by the deadline for the Paris Games and by the dynamism of "local" projects at the end of the municipal mandate."

For 2025, the I4CE forecasts a slight increase in climate investments, to 103 billion euros, due to a resumption of investments in offshore wind power, investment programs in electricity networks, and a slight increase in car sales.