In a column published this Sunday, October 30 in 'Le Journal du Dimanche', nine personalities call on the French to reduce their cruising speed on French motorways. And to drive no longer at 130 km/h, but at 110 km/h.

It is an eternal debate that these nine French public figures have just put back on the carpet. In effect, in a column published in the Sunday newspaper this Sunday, October 30, 2022 , Cyril Dion, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Jean-Marc Jancovici, Stéphane Amant (manager at Carbone4), Cécile Béliot (CEO of Bel), Éric Kayser (baker), Antoine Lemarchand (CEO of Nature & Découvertes), Frédéric Mazzella (founder of BlaBlaCar) and Augustin Paluel-Marmont (co-founder of Michel et Augustin) called on the French to reduce their speed on the highways . Thereby, they advise everyone to drive no longer at 130 km/h as currently authorized, but at 110 km/h . A measure that had also been retained by the climate convention, but that the government had decided to set aside as it was considered divisive at the time.

Drive slower to reduce your carbon footprint

As explained by the nine signatories of the column published in the JDD this Sunday, this gesture would be 'immediately beneficial for the climate AND for purchasing power' since fuel consumption and CO2 emissions increase with speed . Whereas 'our climate and social house is seriously burning, and we with ', Cyril Dion and his eight friends, grouped together in a collective called 'Les 110', therefore have the primary objective of making us drastically reduce our carbon footprint . 'Our average carbon footprint is indeed around 10 tonnes of CO2 per person per year and needs to fall by around 80% by 2050, to reach the 2 tonnes of CO2 compatible with a temperature rise of less than 2°C' , they recall.

And according to them, drive at 110km/h instead of 130km/h, 'it's -20% of fuel consumed, and -20% of our greenhouse gas emissions' . This also allows to 'reduce traffic jams' and 'it's not very restrictive' with 'at worst' , elongated paths “8 to 9 minutes per hour, which is not much compared to the hours spent on our screens or the urgency to reduce our emissions” .

Of the 'everyday gestures' who matter

'This initiative is not a petition, it is voluntary and we are not asking the state to legislate' , explain the said personalities at the beginning of their forum. The main objective of this speech, and of this call for energy sobriety, it must be said, being to 'gather around a simple, effective, visible decision and, through a positive contagion effect, to consolidate its impact by being millions to adopt it' . “Everyone will be free to choose to continue – or not – their commitment according to the results obtained together, their experience (…)” , continue the signatories. However, according to them, 'everyday gestures and changes in behavior have immense value' . “There is no small decision if there are millions of us to make it” , therefore concludes the tribune.

Source journaldesfemmes.fr