A left-wing policy for climate?

As a recent IPCC report outlined the potential increase of the planet temperature due to the increase of greenhouse gas emissions, the objective would be to reduce these emissions by a factor 2 by 2050, but also by a factor 4 or 5 for western countries. The author outlines that greenhouse gas emissions are generally attributed to carbonated energy sources (coal, oil, gas) whereas the IPCC report states that this share is indeed important but not predominant. Focussing on the reduction of these energies bypasses risks associated with the development of the nuclear sector (accidents, waste management, proliferation) or those associated with shale gas production (high methane leakages). Then, the author identifies two main ways of thinking. The first one relies on an absolute necessity of economic growth to address the main difficulties faced by the society (jobs, purchasing power, and reduction of inequalities) without putting determining factors of energy demand evolution into question again (urban sprawl, development of office buildings, mobility, agriculture and food practices). The second one puts environmental constraints and economic and social issues on the same level. Thus, prospective scenarios based on these different approaches and policies give different results, at the national level as well as at the international level. These different obtained trajectories (based either on a still important energy demand, on energy efficiency and collective and individual savings) are summarized and compared, notably in terms of reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The author then outlines the challenges of a policy aimed at energy savings and low energy consumption, discusses how to generalise good practices. He discusses the implications in terms of industry and jobs, and shows how the French bill project on energy transition can be perceived as disappointing on different aspects (technical, political, financial)