It is a halt, albeit a partial one, to French oil exploration — and a further step towards France's energy transition. The new minister for ecological transition Nicolas Hulot, an environmental journalist known for his activism, has publicly announced that "there will be no new oil explorations" and that new legislation on the matter will be introduced by autumn.

A halt to oil exploration

The decision would affect only new exploration licences, both in metropolitan France and in its overseas territories, but would leave existing ones untouched. It nonetheless represents a gradual move away from sources such as shale gas and oil, confirming the line taken by President Macron, who during his election campaign spoke out against new explorations and in favour of banning fracking, particularly in the territory of French Guiana.

According to France24, the minister's announcement received a lukewarm response from environmentalists. "There are at least 55 previously approved exploration licences that will likely be extended, and 132 extraction licences awaiting approval," said Juliette Renaud, fossil fuels expert at Friends of the Earth. The law will not, in fact, be retroactive.

The meeting with Arnold Schwarzenegger

Last Friday, Hulot and Macron met former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to discuss energy issues and the transition from fossil fuels to renewables. The actor has long publicly opposed President Trump's energy and climate policies, stating that it will not be possible to stop a revolution that has already begun. Macron himself, within hours of Trump's announcement that the United States would withdraw from the Paris Agreement, had invited American researchers and climatologists to "relocate" to France and continue their work towards the development of a low-carbon economy and energy system.