According to a study conducted by Deloitte at the request of Copacel and several professional unions, the decrease in French industrial paper production between 1995 and 2015 has resulted in an increase in France's carbon footprint, i.e. greenhouse gas emissions related to the consumption of goods and services by the French.
The decrease in production leads to imports in countries where manufacturing is more greenhouse gas emitting
How did the study come to this conclusion? Through an analysis based on a comparison of the carbon footprint of newsprint, depending on the country of production. The study states that newsprint produced in France is three times less carbon-intensive than paper imported from Spain, and eight times less carbon-intensive than paper imported from Germany.
The decline in production in France therefore leads to an increase in imports of manufactured goods produced in countries where their manufacture emits more greenhouse gases. For the paper industry, the impact of deindustrialization has led to an increase in the country's carbon footprint of 560,000 t of CO 2 between 1995 and 2015, the study explains.
Copacel emphasizes that the French paper industry is particularly virtuous with its decarbonized energy mix (nearly 64% of heat is produced from renewable fuels).
« This study shows that industry should not be the target of climate policies and that public policies should aim to increase paper production in France, as this is the only way to reduce imports and CO 2 associated with them", according to Paul-Antoine Lacour, General Delegate of Copacel.
