France's greenhouse gas emissions fell 4.1% in the first half of 2026 as soaring fuel prices pushed people to buy less diesel and burn less gas at home, according to Citepa, the French body that tracks air pollutants and greenhouse gases, Euronews reported. The country is still short of the pace needed to meet its climate targets.
Diesel prices have risen 45% since the start of the year after the war in Iran choked oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz. Diesel sales fell 7.3% in the first six months and transport emissions 4.5%. Emissions from homes and commercial buildings dropped 12%, mostly because less natural gas was used for heating, hot water and cooking.
Citepa expects a cut of 2.8% over 2026, up from 2.1% in 2025, or about 10 million tonnes. But France aims to halve emissions by 2030 from 1990 levels, which needs reductions of around 5% a year. The second half will be weaker, with a fall of only 1.3% expected, partly because France is running more gas-fired power plants to export electricity, and energy-sector emissions are expected to rise 3.6% over the year. Ecological Transition Minister Monique Barbut called the decline "encouraging" but "not yet enough", according to AFP.
Elsewhere, Germany's emissions fell about 2% in the first half, though the think tank Agora Energiewende warns it could exceed its annual limit by around 10 million tonnes. Heat pump sales rose 25% in France, Germany and Poland early in 2026, and solar power has saved the EU an estimated €37.4 billion in gas imports since the war began in February. A Carbon Brief analysis based on IEA forecasts suggests global fossil fuel CO2 emissions could fall about 0.5% this year, the first annual decline since 2020.
For farmers, the same fuel and fertiliser price shock is a cost, not a climate win: the figures show how much of this year's fall comes from expensive energy rather than lasting change.
Photo: Cahtls / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Euronews
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