Political climate change: Macron pushes for environment-friendly economy as Greens claim big cities in French elections

French President Emmanuel Macron promised €15 billion of new funding on Monday to speed up the move to a greener economy. The move comes a day after the Greens trounced his party and took control of major cities in local elections.

Macron said he would move faster on environment-friendly policymaking and that he was ready to call a referendum on revising the constitution to include climate aims if parliament allowed it. “The challenge to our climate demands we do more,” Macron told members of the Climate Council in a meeting at the Elysee Palace.

The president also backed a proposal for a moratorium on new commercial zones in city outskirts, and said he would consider bringing in a new law against “ecocide,” Reuters said.

France’s Green party called ‘Europe Ecology – The Greens’ (EELV) stunned the country in Sunday’s vote when it won control of large cities including Lyon, Bordeaux and Strasbourg, often in alliance with leftist allies.