The new French president stunned businesses by appointing Nicolas Hulot, an anti-nuclear and anti-pesticide environmental activist, as the country’s environmental minister. But some suspect it is just a political gesture.
Nicolas Hulot, France’s most famous environmental activist, is known for making waves. As a famous television personality, he has used his television show as a platform to attack pesticides, nuclear power, and even capitalism as a whole. “Our model is not sustainable,” he has declared.
Hulot was a surprising name in a list of cabinet nominations that were mostly center-right and market-friendly.
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Now, companies are scrambling to figure out whether the appointment could mean an increase in environmental regulation – and a drastic phaseout of nuclear power – or whether it is merely a political gesture.
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Hulot has taken very public stances against pesticides and genetically modified organisms (GMOs), a controversial topic in France.
This may change the way France votes on some of these issues at EU level, for instance on reauthorization of the Monsanto pesticide glyphosate.
But at the same time, there is uncertainty over how much power he will have to take such decisions – and some suspect he may just be the “green face” of a dirty government.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Macron’s new environment chief: Greenwashing or green leading?
