“La Vie en Green?” - Success and challenges of green policies in Paris

Is Paris a green policy’s “leader”? As written on the municipality website in 2019, this is at least what the French capital claims. Comparing this statement with my knowledge of Parisian ecology and what we see in the media, I was unsure if it was true to reality. 

At first sight, the policy pursued since 2014 by the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, seems rather ambitious. The Green Party argues that their municipal action is enabling the French capital to respond to the environmental challenges. Still, she remains highly disliked by Parisians, who seem reluctant to green policies: in 2023, 60% of Parisians were unsatisfied with Hidalgo’s policies. 

Regarding the different narratives around that matter, I had to dig deeper. To do so, I asked my questions to Nour Durand-Raucher, a city councillor in the 11th arrondissement and a member of the Ecologist Party. 

“Make Paris Green Again” 

“The Ecologists, despite being a minority in the Council of Paris, succeeded in implementing many reforms since 2014”, Nour Durand-Raucher explained. 

The main impact of ecological reforms was the improvement of air quality, seen by the reduction of pollution in the capital. Indeed, as AirParif explained in their latest report, pollution levels have decreased by half since 2005, thanks to the “local and national public policies”. A prior example of this was the reduction of speed on Paris’ speed ring, a policy implemented by Anne Hidalgo, which contributed to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. This fits the 2030 ambition of emission reduction that was decided with the “Climate Plan” in 2008 (and reviewed in 2018). 

Anne Hidalgo also worked on new mobilities, new energy networks, and greening projects. “Paris is a very dense city, which makes it sometimes difficult to implement changes”, explained Durand-Raucher. “As a member of the Ecologist Party, I think that we could go even further in the transformation of Paris. Anne Hidalgo communicates a lot, but is not always coherent in her policies. The Green Party defends “political ecology,” which is an ecological transition associated with social justice. It is a more coherent transformation.” Still, the municipal councilor welcomes these transformations and explains that they improve the image of the capital. 

“Paris is a leading capital on climate”, claimed Nour Durand-Raucher. He went on to explain what the C40 Cities are. This association of powerful global cities aims to provide green objectives and strategies to encourage a more ambitious transition at the local level. In 2023, Anne Hidalgo was elected as Vice-President of this network, showing the leadership of Paris on environmental subjects. 

Hidalgo and her majority have an ambitious environmental strategy, which we can only welcome. But still, what about the Parisians’ opinions? “The inhabitants are receptive to green policies, and even ask for more. It is possible to make projects, and Paris must be green.”, argued Nour Durand-Raucher, a statement which becomes essentially true when looking at the polls. In March 2025, Opinionway asked the Parisians about their perception of environmental policies, and a majority of them welcomed the policies and want to go further (71% support a pedestrianization of more streets, 63% encourage a reduction of cars in Paris). 

The support for ecological policies was also present in the elections. In July 2024, five Green deputies were elected in Paris, and in 2025, a vote was held on the greening of five hundred new streets, where 66% voted in favour, although only 4% participated in the voting. “The media often depicts Parisians as reluctant to ecological reforms, but I can say that they support our reforms. And numbers show it,” concluded Durand-Raucher. 

Paris 2024: Sustainable games? 

When discussing public opinion in Paris, my thoughts also go towards the Olympic and Paralympic Games. As I thought they were a phenomenal success, I wondered whether they had also been ‘environmentally friendly’. To back up my words, I looked at the report provided by the organizing committee, which defends a reduction by more than half (-54,6%) of the carbon footprint compared with the average games of London 2012 and Rio 2016. 

Moreover, the General Commission for Sustainable Development (a French administrative service) presented the final results of the Paris Games' CO2 emissions. They emitted 2.058 million tons of CO2, as much as Tokyo 2020 (which happened during a lockdown period). As stated in the organizing committee’s declaration, the Paris games emitted less than London 2012 and Rio 2016 (3,3 and 4,5 million CO2 tons). However, it is far from the initial emission target in June 2024: 1.58 million tons of CO2 emissions. 

“Emissions were lower in Paris because London and Rio were a complete environmental disaster. Paris did better in some areas, like having limited building construction or using the existing electric network. Still, tourists gathered from all around the world, and Paris was filled with advertising campaigns for Coca-Cola. So we can’t claim that the Games were an environmental success.” 

Durand-Raucher went on to explain that the Olympics resulted in advertizing campaigns in Paris, encouraging over-consumption. “These games are sold as green, but we soon find out the limits of the narrative.” The Greens are very engaged on the topic of greenwashing and over-consumption. For this reason, the group has pushed through a measure to eliminate commercial advertising in Paris by 2027. 

Let’s come back to the first declaration. On one hand, the Games relied on existing infrastructures, which allowed them to have a lower carbon footprint, as 95% of the infrastructure was pre-existing (or temporarily built for the summer, out of reusable material). This significantly contributed to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The promise was that these buildings would then be reused to benefit local populations. I asked Nour Durand-Raucher if the promise was respected. “It is true. People are living there. However, these buildings are fragile, so not very sustainable.” 

On the other hand, even if the Olympics’ organization committee claimed 'low-plastic production', an investigation revealed that the reusable plastic cups distributed last summer were filled with… plastic bottles. After conducting research, I found that a major steel manufacturer (ArcelorMittal) was sponsoring the Olympics. This company was attacked for “industrial pollution” which affected thousands of people in France. 

Lastly, the organization does not take into account the emissions produced by the 11,2 million people present. According to governmental expertise, the transport sector represented ⅔ of the emissions (0,961 Mt CO₂e). Although not everyone flew to Paris, plane transport was still widely used, notably knowing that Air France and the Paris Airports company were major partners of the Olympics… It is easy to claim that these games were not as positive for ecology in the French capital as they claimed to be. 

In this perspective, how to study the sustainability of the Olympics? An article written in 2024 presents a framework to understand if these Olympics were really “environmentally respectful” and “sustainable”. Indeed, it lies on three pillars: ecological (new constructions, visitor footprints…), economic (long-term viability, budget balance…), and social (public approval, displacement of population…). 

With this framework in mind, we can see that the Paris Olympics were not entirely sustainable.

Nour Durand-Raucher told me about “political ecology”, which directly echoes this sustainability framework. This vision integrates social justice with green policies. "The worst thing about the Olympics was the exclusion of the poorest populations from the capital. It went against all our principles, reinforcing inequalities." According to Ouest France, 20,000 persons were expelled from Paris for the Olympics and Paralympics. “This is unacceptable and goes against everything we defend. It harms the heritage of these Games.” 

The road ahead 

Post-Olympics, many challenges and commitments still remain when it comes to ecology in Paris, in light of the municipal battle that is now starting to emerge. 

Using the 2024 dynamic of capital redevelopment work, Paris launched massive projects of streets greening to make the city able to resist incoming heat waves. While the municipality is proud to see the pollution levels decrease, it is important to continue to commit to the 2030 European Strategy of pollution reduction. Thus, Paris continues its strategy to encourage green mobility, such as cycling, by increasing its bicycle lane network and making the existing infrastructure safer. Some argue that Paris is not adapted for cycling, but the infrastructure is growing (targeting 1500 km in 2026), and the municipality allocated €250 million (until 2026) to strengthen the network. Today, most of the routes are done by bike (11%) rather than by car (4%). 

However, these green plans could be challenged by the coming elections, which will see Anne Hidalgo leave her office. In March 2026, Parisians will elect their mayor, and the current socialist head of the capital will not run for another term. According to a recent poll, the Greens and the socialists are not in a good position to win the elections, but the centrists and right-wing candidates are more likely to win. “An election is played the year before”, argues Nour Durand-Raucher. “The debates promise to be tough, but we could have cards to play.” An election of a right-wing candidate could harm the ecological transition of Paris. “The right has an obsolete vision of the environment and would like to put cars back in Paris. What we have been fighting against, and contributed to reducing pollution.” 

The City of Light shines green

This interview was very insightful and changed my perspective on ecological policies in Paris. Indeed, a majority accepts these necessary reforms, and the municipality could engage in ambitious projects. “I never said it was easy”, adds Durand-Raucher, “but we are capable of acting and placing Paris as a leader in green policies. We are proud of what we do for the Parisians.” According to a classification from “L’Observatoire des villes vertes” (Green cities observatory), Paris was the 10th greenest city in France, showing a growing dynamic in green policies.