Eight months before the presidential election, Green Party MP Benoît Biteau is calling for a unified left-wing candidacy that places the fight against climate change at the heart of its platform. Speaking on franceinfo this Friday, August 7, the MP for Charente-Maritime stated that environmental issues must become "an absolute priority" of the presidential campaign.
The MP strongly criticized the government's environmental policy, arguing that "the environmental approach envisioned by Macron's party doesn't work." He also targeted the National Rally, accusing it of advocating a vision of agriculture incompatible with climate change.
A critique of current agricultural policy
Benoît Biteau notably denounced the support given to mega-reservoirs, arguing that these infrastructures do not address the challenges of sharing water resources. According to him, it is necessary to restore the "great water cycle" by further developing wetlands rather than prioritizing storage solutions intended for a limited portion of farms.
The Green Party MP also opposed the recent emergency agricultural law, which once again authorizes, under an exemption, the use of two pesticides banned in France. "The government hasn't understood anything," he declared, arguing that it would be better "to listen to science rather than the FNSEA."
Eco-pastoralism as a response to fires
When questioned about the fires that ravaged vast areas of forest this summer, Benoît Biteau rejected criticism leveled at environmentalists regarding brush clearing. He asserted that his party had never challenged this practice, while advocating for increased use of eco-grazing.
According to him, grazing animals would naturally limit combustible vegetation while offering farmers a new role in forest fire prevention. He considers this approach more sustainable in the face of the intensifying consequences of climate change.
