French student questions Macron on climate change
A French 肠辞濒濒猫驳别 student has demanded an answer on climate change from President Emmanuel Macron, during the latest installment of the national Grand D茅bat .
Mr Macron was present at the audience of 400 people in Gr茅oux-les-Bains (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Provence-Alpes-C么te d'Azur), on Thursday March 7.
The theme of the event was the environment and the 鈥渆cological transition鈥� - a topic that has not been the subject of a major discussion during the Grand D茅bat thus far.
Student Charlie, who attends the 肠辞濒濒猫驳别 at Saint-Andr茅-les-Alpes, : 鈥淲hat do you understand by [the term] 鈥榚cology鈥�, when today factories can pour their waste into the sea, pesticides are polluting our ground and therefore our food, and 20,000 tonnes of electrical waste from Europe is sent to Nigeria?鈥�
He asked: 鈥淒o you think that we can buy a new planet with money? When are you going to act, because you have the power?鈥�
His question was applauded by the crowd, which included several hundred young people, local mayors, farmers, and association leaders from the local Verdon region.
Mr Macron - whose banker background often sees him accused of being 鈥渢he president of the rich鈥� - that the ecological transition was aiming to make the move 鈥渇rom one model to another鈥�.
The President : 鈥淥ur challenge is to [make the move] as quickly as possible. I believe that we can do it quicker, better, further, by giving more power to local authorities and changing our methods.
鈥淭he 鈥榓ll money鈥� model is over. But we must be productive. There will always be money, but we should neither hate it nor love it; we must see it as a way of getting things done.鈥�
