Nature representations in Paris city policies and their consideration of environmental justice
Tracking the origin of electricity: for which energy future?
Lisa Lejemtel & Pierre-Yves Galzi
Abstract
Nature representations in Paris city policies and their consideration of environmental justice
Access to nature in cities is often limited, despite its significant contributions to human well-being. City policies, such as climate adaptation strategies, or green areas plans, are crucial for maintaining and strengthening nature in cities. However, how nature is considered in these policy documents varies a lot, with some of them focusing on biodiversity conservation, while others rather focus on recreation, or climate changes adaptation. Urban policy documents analysis can help unveiling the preferences for and representations of nature among policymakers. In this study, we analyzed how nature is framed in the policy documents of Paris, France. We more specifically focused on a three-dimension nexus (composed of biodiversity conservation, climate adaptation and mitigation, human health) and its connections with environmental justice, an important cross-cutting issue for environmental policies. We selected 32 documents dealing with nature, spanning the period 2006 – 2022. We then used Kobotoolbox software, to extract and code nexus and environmental justice information, as well as policies goals and actions. Few documents comprehensively targeted the entire nexus, most of them focusing only on adaptation or biodiversity issues. Environmental justice, when mentioned, was mainly addressed by distributive interventions with unclear recipients or participation measures aimed at the general public, not particular groups. This study offers new insights on the integrated management of urban nature areas in Paris. It calls for a more in-depth translation of a nexus approach to Paris policies and a stronger consideration of environmental justice through detailed actions, with specific indicators and associated budget.
Tracking the origin of electricity: for which energy future?
Electricity cannot be physically tracked. All consumers use the electricity available on the grid. Nevertheless, contractual electricity tracking systems appears on the late 1990s. These are conventions that enable certain organisations or consumers to appropriate the positive impacts of renewable electricity generation. In France, the legal tracking system has been heavily criticised and a controversy on electricity traceability took place between 2018 and 2021. Three different electricity tracking systems were discussed: Guarantees of Origin, Joint Purchasing and an independent tracking system utilising blockchain technology. This article aims to analyse this controversy. Based on the theoretical framework proposed by Chiapello and Engels (2021), I examine these mechanisms through their link with the physical reality they represent, using the notion of “attachment” and “detachment”. I show that the three systems considered represent electricity generation differently. These modalities of attachment and detachment have significant political implications. For these reasons, electricity tracking systems are associated with different sociotechnical imaginaries of the energy future.