French election: Macron vows to overhaul climate policy as he woos left-wing vote
Emmanuel Macron has promised that is he is re-elected, his prime minister will be "directly responsible for environmental planning", in order to go "twice as fast" to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Before a crowd of supporters in Marseille, he promised a "complete renewal" of his policy, saying he had "heard" the message of the first round.
The French president and centrist candidate, who faces a run-off next Sunday with Marine Le Pen, needs the support of left-wing voters to be assured of victory.
Crucial to the challenge are the votes of those who backed veteran left-winger Jean-Luc Mélenchon last weekend. He fell out of the race after finishing third — but won 22% of the vote, putting him within two points of ousting the far-right candidate.
In bright sunshine in the southern port city, Macron promised his supporters a prime minister "directly in charge of environmental planning", "supported by two strong ministers".
The first of these, he said, would become "minister of energy planning", tasked with a "mission of making France the first major nation to leave behind oil, gas and coal".
The second supporting minister would be "responsible for territorial environmental planning" to tackle local transport, "reinvest in river and rail freight", "accelerate the renovation of housing, at least 700,000 per year over the next five years", and also to "act for the quality of water, air, food".
Defending his record during his first term in office, Emmanuel Macron cited high-profile projects that had been scrapped, such as a new airport at Notre-Dame-des-Landes in western France, and a new Terminal 4 at Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport.
"We have been twice as fast as the previous two five-year (presidencies) in reducing greenhouse
Read more on euronews.com
