The Mayor of the City of Paris, France
Anne Hidalgo
In the spirit of her leadership during COP21 and the Climate Summit for Local Leaders, Anne Hidalgo launched and formalized a series of transformative climate initiatives. To tackle the previously mentioned climate issues, she introduced the ‘Zone à Faible Émission’ (ZFE), the Bioclimatic Urban Land Use Plan (PLU), and the Eco-Rénovons Paris+ Scheme.
Zone à Faible Émission
Zone à Faibles Émissions (ZFE) are zones that restrict highly polluting vehicles from entering urban areas as a means to reduce air pollution. The French government launched this policy on a national level, but Anne Hidalgo took the lead in the implementation in Paris and tightened the restrictions for the ZFEs. Paris set out to target transportation as this sector is the most polluting for the city, as it causes 66 % of the NOx emissions, 56 % of the PM 10 emissions, and 58 % of the PM 2,5 emissions. Moreover, Anne Hidalgo did this because, as a mayor, she can modify circulation.
In 2017, the French Ministry of the Environment, alongside the French Ministry of the Interior, developed the Crit’air system, a classification system that categorizes vehicles according to their emissions, their age, and their type. Crit’air attributes a sticker to each vehicle based on these criteria. Based on their group, the vehicles will receive a sticker. There exist 6 types of stickers ranging from zero to five, zero being e-vehicles and the greenest, and 5 diesel vehicles that were produced between 1997 and 2000. Older and polluting vehicles that possess a certain sticker are restricted from entering the ZFEs, leading to a fine if the law is not respected. Under the leadership of Hidalgo, Paris was the first to employ the Crit’air system.
Figure 2 Source: Ministère Aménagement du Territoire Transition Écologique, 2024
When Hidalgo started working on the implementation of this policy, over 40% of the population was exposed to pollutants such as NO₂ (nitrogen dioxide), PM₂.₅ (particulate matter). Nitrogen dioxide has damaging effects on the respiratory system, leading to conditions such as asthma, and it also contributes to acid rains, which are damaging ecosystems. PM₂.₅ are microplastic particles 2.5 micrometers or less suspended in the air, which, similarly to NO₂ they cause respiratory irritation resulting in respiratory and cardiovascular conditions and a higher risk of heart attacks and strokes. Both NO₂ and PM₂.₅ are emitted by the combustion of fossil fuels used, for instance, for transportation. To protect the health of her citizens and the ecosystems, Hidalgo was at the forefront of the ZFE implementation.
Anne Hidalgo seized the lead in the ZFE implementation, as air pollution leads to a high number of respiratory diseases resulting in higher mortality rates. In 2015, emissions from the transport system were associated with 11 deaths per 100,000 population in Paris, and within these health complications, 71% are attributed to diesel vehicles.
ZFEs affect over 77 municipalities in the greater Paris Region, affecting over 5.61 million people. By implementing this policy in Paris, she actively works towards achieving the threshold of air pollution set by the World Health Organization (WHO) to protect the well-being of Parisians. The Paris Action Plan outlines Paris’ aim to decrease by 50% compared to 2004 in local greenhouse gas emissions and achieve better air quality than the WHO guideline stipulations. Between 2015 and 2017, the initial phases of ZFEs were rolled out, restricting heavy goods vehicles, buses, and coaches during peak hours from 8 h–20 h every Monday to Friday. In 2019, vehicles possessing the Crit’air 5, diesel vehicles registered before 2001, and non-classified vehicles were affected. Crit’air 4, diesel vehicles registered before 2006, were banned on January 1st, 2021. Crit’air 3 was planned to be banned in 2023 from the ZFE, but the restriction was postponed. According to the diagram from the Ministry for Ecological Transition, 6.2% of the vehicles in Paris are currently affected. Once Crit Air 3’s restriction rolls out, 22.4% of the vehicles will be banned from the ZFE.
In 2025, the National Assembly is planning on eliminating ZFEs in the rest of the country due to political opposition and the question of social exclusion, but Hidalgo does not plan on eliminating these zones from Paris; rather, she plans to pursue her transformation of Paris and tighten the restrictions.
Hidalgo’s implementation of ZFE encourages the acceleration towards more sustainable forms of transportation. To do so, the Mayor of Paris has launched a major Cycling Plan in 2015, aiming to increase the number of cycling lanes by 1,000 km of cycling lanes to become a 100% cycleable city. The policy aims to ease the transition from polluting to less polluting vehicles by eliminating diesel by 2024 and eliminating petrol by 2030 from these zones while promoting research and alternative powered vehicles, such as hydrogen fuel technologies.
Bioclimatic Urban Land Use Plan
Anne Hidalgo has long prioritized housing, particularly social housing, to increase the number of available homes and address the housing crisis. The bioclimatic Urban Land Use Plan (Bio-PLU) is a strategic framework that oversees the central planning and regulation of upcoming construction, renovation, and rehabilitation of buildings in the city of Paris. It aims to match urban development with climate resilience, improvements in habitability, environmental preservation, social equity, and housing affordability. This plan aims to support the energy, construction, and heating industries in embracing eco-friendly practices and efficient resource transport. It is designed to help reduce CO2 and CO2e emissions throughout their operations and supply chains, making a positive impact on the environment. The Bio-PLU aims to achieve energy- and carbon-efficient buildings while maintaining social diversity and minimizing inequalities.
Through the Bio PLU, Anne Hidalgo aims to redesign buildings to create energy- and carbon-efficient neighborhoods and arrondissements. To achieve this, the plan seeks to limit the number of constructions and demolitions by targeting existing buildings and rehabilitating them to comply with the 2020 Réglementation Environnementale. Environmental regulations set limits on CO2 emissions per building component. According to the regulation for building components, housing has a limit of 580 kg CO2e/m², while office building components have a limit of 710 kg CO2e/m². In line with the buildings’ environmental regulations, the Bio-PLU plans to phase out concrete from the construction sector and begin implementing bio-sourced, low-carbon materials, such as wood, hemp, cut stone, and raw earth. The transition to bio-sourced material results from concrete’s poor insulation, impermeability, and high heat retention properties. Furthermore, the city of Paris will implement a ‘Clean Worksite Charter’ requiring increased supervision and accountability for the impact of worksites, with a focus on reducing the use of concrete, decreasing the number of trucks, and minimizing water consumption.
Moreover, the Bio-PLU, to protect its citizens, will deploy the 1000 Anti-heating Roofs program to assist Parisians living on top floors, which are directly exposed to the heat. Zinc roofs are primarily targeted due to their heat absorption properties, which can raise their surface temperatures to 80°C, and because these roofs comprise more than two-thirds of Paris’s roofs. Building on this, the Bio-PLU will give roofs new uses, such as incorporating solar panels, rainwater harvesting systems, vegetation, and urban agriculture. Similarly, the city will enhance its greening and solarization projects to mitigate the urban heat island effect.
The Bio-PLU is targeting the climatic issues of rising temperatures and CO2 emissions as its core purpose. Renovating existing buildings and roofs with low-carbon materials will help decrease the amount of emissions they produce during their development, following environmental regulations for building components. Additionally, by limiting demolitions and attempting to keep worksites as efficient as possible, the CO2 produced by the engines of heavy machinery, trucks, and portable equipment is reduced significantly. Thus, a reduction in the CO2 emissions produced by the construction and renovation of buildings will allow for a reduction in the rise in temperatures, effectively lowering the health impacts for Parisians who live on the upper floors. This will be especially the case for vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, who are at a higher risk during extreme heat. Moreover, the repurposing of building roofs through greening and the installation of solar panels will help reduce the CO2 emissions generated for powering the building and its air conditioning units. Indeed, the deployment of solar panels on Parisian rooftops, which can average 5.56kWh per day per solar panel during summer, can help reduce the dependency on fossil fuel electricity and help the transition to renewable energy sources.
Anne Hidalgo has been pushing for urban development and the transformation of Paris for years, since she took her seat as incumbent in the “Hôtel de Ville”. She has been promoting and investing in solutions such as urban islands and closing off areas to car traffic to reduce the effects of urban heat islands. Now, with the Bioclimatic PLU, the bar has been raised higher as Anne Hidalgo pushes for stricter regulation of emissions for renovation and energy production in the housing sector. This is especially relevant at a time when the EU is increasing the expectations of member states to meet air quality standards, reduce carbon footprint, and lower CO2 and CO2e emissions through the European Climate Law.
Eco-Rénovons Paris+ Scheme
As part of her plan to integrate the private housing sector into the climatic adaptation of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, in collaboration with the municipality and other stakeholders, created the ‘Eco-Rénovons Paris+ Scheme’. The plan is an encouragement program for condominiums and jointly owned properties to engage in energy-efficient renovations of their properties, aiming to achieve a more environmentally friendly private housing sector. This policy focuses on providing technical and financial aid tailored to the needs of the household. The Eco-Rénovons Paris+ Scheme aims to promote energy-efficient and thermal renovations of private housing, to achieve 100% private housing renovation by 2050. These renovations do not focus solely on the financial provision of these renovations, but also provide technical information on cooling solutions for co-owners and condominiums.
Additionally, in collaboration with the Parisian Climate Agency, the technical support will be more intensive, as this organization has 1,500 experts available to deliver solutions for renovations. Already, in 2023, the city of Paris allocated €13 million for the ERP+ and plans to invest €200 million annually (from 2030 onwards) for private household renovations, including improvements for insulation, heating systems, and renewable energy production. Additionally, the city plans to earmark €10 million yearly to achieve the energy renovations under the ERP+.
The city is expanding the financial aid ceiling to 75% of the renovation cost per home for households in precarious situations. In line with this, the city, as part of the Eco-Rénovons scheme, has a target to renovate 40,000 private housing units with a primary focus on precarious neighborhoods and districts. The city will allocate €13 million for the renovation of 40,000 private housing units and is aiming to invest €10 million per year in subsidies for private condominium projects. Additionally, to increase the incentive for renovations, private households that begin energy-renovation projects can be exempted from property tax for three years.
The Eco-Rénovons Paris+ Scheme primarily aims to reduce the production of CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions associated with domestic electricity generation and heating. In 2021, the energy sector had an overall carbon footprint of 4.50 million tonnes of CO2, with residential buildings accounting for 12,725 gigawatt-hours of energy consumption in the same year, as seen in Figure 3.
The issue of domestic energy consumption is that 50% of the energy consumed by Parisians in residential buildings comes primarily from natural gas and fuel oil, accounting for 35% and 8% of total energy consumption, respectively. The renovation to achieve more energy-efficient condominiums will help decrease consumption levels to match the local production of renewable sources, resulting in 2.083 terawatt-hours, equivalent to 7% of the 2019 consumption. Similarly, the domestic heating network relies heavily on fuel oil and coal, emitting a significant amount of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. This is further exacerbated for households that use wood heating, as burning wood accounts for ¾ of the regional emissions of NOx and PM2.5, together with road traffic from diesel cars. As part of Eco-Rénovons Paris, insulation improvements would retain heat during winter, allowing for a decrease in energy consumption for heating and effectively reducing CO2 emissions.
Since her first mayoral election in 2014, Anne Hidalgo has paid close attention to private housing, particularly in her efforts to make housing more affordable and reduce the number of homeless people. She mentioned in an interview that her number one priority was housing and making it affordable while also attempting to incorporate innovative and environmentally friendly construction methods. The COP21 summit, as well as the Paris Agreement, would enable her to release the first version of the ‘Eco-Rénovons Paris+’ scheme in May 2016 to address private housing and align with the urban renovation objectives of the rest of the city. Following the 2022 review of the policy, the city of Paris re-launched Eco-Rénovons Paris, deploying more resources for co-owners, mainly focusing on precarious households, financing energy, and increasing the level of support in all stages of the renovation process. The re-launch will prove to increase the commitment of the city towards energy-efficient renovations, as urban development is targeted to achieve a reduction in the carbon footprint of the building sector.
IExRAIA Summer Research Program:
This article is an excerpt from a report on Claudia Sheinbaum produced as part of an RAIA research program on climate leaders. For a full picture of Ruto’s climate leadership, including the sources, read the full report. This project was fully financed by IE University’s IE School of Politics, Economics and Global Affairs.
Author: Alice Girotto & Bryan Thorne
Editor: Roxane de Bergevin
Project Leads: Roxane de Bergevin & Stefani Obradovic
Table of Contents
