“The French are not terrible hypocrites, who declare themselves concerned about the climate before buying an SUV”

Where are the French with regard to ecology? Do they care? Do they claim it, while continuing to consume? Are they trying to reduce their carbon footprint? In “La Conversion Écologique des Français” (PUF), four researchers analyze a survey conducted in 2017 among a representative sample of the population to analyze both attitudes (what people say) and practices (what people do). The result is a nuanced study on subjects that have become sensitive: the relationship to meat, to the plane, to the car, to technology, to selective sorting. Interview with three of the four authors.

Are we right to say that since 2018 – the heat waves, the resignation of Hulot – ecology has become a major concern for the French?

Mael Ginsburger. It’s older than that. From the end of the 1990s, environmental concerns took hold, even if they may be subject to fluctuations linked to current events and election campaigns. It is true, however, that the annual surveys by Ademe [l’Agence de l’Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l’Energie] show an increase in these concerns between 2018 and 2019, surely linked to scientific alerts.

Ivaylo Petev. tell each other “environmentally sensitive” can cover very different interests. In detail, recent years have seen an increase in the attention given to climate change and biodiversity while topics