Class and Environmental Inequality

Working-Class Environmentalism

French working-class environmentalism challenges narratives positioning workers against environmental protection. While some unions prioritize job preservation in polluting industries, others pioneer just transition approaches.

In Gardanne, coal plant workers facing closure developed proposals for converting facilities to biomass and retraining workers for renewable energy jobs. "We know coal is finished," explains CGT union delegate Marie Courrèges. "But transition must include workers who powered France for generations. We won't be sacrificed for bourgeois environmental conscience."

The gilets jaunes movement revealed class dimensions of environmental policy. Protesters didn't oppose environmental protection but policies making working people pay for ecological transition while exempting aviation fuel and shipping. Their demands included massive public investment in rail and renewable energy, funded by taxing wealthy polluters.

Energy Poverty and Just Transition

Energy poverty affects millions in France, forced to choose between heating and eating. The movement Rénovons! organizes for massive building renovation programs prioritizing social housing. They frame energy efficiency as social justice issue, reducing both emissions and inequality.

Residents of degraded social housing organize against "environmental gentrification" where ecological renovation leads to displacement. In Lille, tenant associations negotiated agreements ensuring green building improvements don't increase rents beyond social housing limits.

These struggles reveal how environmental transition can either reduce or exacerbate inequality depending on implementation. Movements increasingly demand that those who profited from pollution fund transition costs, protecting vulnerable populations.