How France is Phasing Out Fossil Fuels

Ever since the Paris Agreement of 2015, France has been working towards the EU's target of a 66.25%–72.5% reduction in emissions by 2035 against 1990 levels.

The broader ambition across the 27 member states is to have the European energy sector largely free of fossil fuels well before 2050, and France is now moving to align its domestic energy supply with that objective.

The scale of the task is considerable. In 2023, fossil fuels still made up just under 60% of France's final energy consumption, which is an improvement on the 65% recorded in 2011, but significant nonetheless.

Critically, more than 95% of those fossil fuels are sourced from abroad, meaning France's energy system carries a heavy import dependency that accounts for 65% of the country's greenhouse gas emissions.

Oil is the dominant fuel, representing 38% of final energy consumption in 2024, with two-thirds of that volume consumed by the transport sector alone. France produces just 1.7% of the oil it uses, importing the remainder.

Fossil gas accounts for 19% of final consumption, split primarily between industry (36%) and the residential and tertiary building sectors (37% and 20% respectively).

Coal, by contrast, plays a minimal role – less than 1% of final consumption – and is not produced domestically.

A legislative foundation for change

France has been formally committed to phasing out fossil fuels since 2017, when the government adopted its Climate Plan.

A central element of that legislation was a ban on new hydrocarbon exploration permits and a commitment not to renew existing exploitation concessions, with all hydrocarbon production in France due to end by 2040.

The Climate Plan has already delivered measurable results in the buildings sector, where fossil fuel consumption fell by 42% between 2017 and 2022. Progress in transport is also being driven by the plan, which sets a target to end sales of new petrol and diesel passenger vehicles by 2040.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum's Davos 2026 event, President Emmanuel Macron underlined France's position as an energy exporter.

"We exported, last year, 93TWh of electricity and low-carbon one based on the nuclear model," he notes.

"We have world-class innovation and research capabilities, and we will improve them.

"And we have one of the most vivid and active ecosystems in AI, quantum computing, energy transition and a lot of start-ups and unicorns and large caps of these sectors are with me in my delegation today."

Sector-by-sector decarbonisation targets

France's National Low Carbon Strategy (SNBC) sets out the roadmap in detail, with a headline target of a 50% reduction in gross greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 against 1990 levels, leading to full carbon neutrality by 2050.

The third edition of the strategy establishes firm end-of-consumption dates for each fossil fuel: coal by 2030, oil by 2045 and fossil gas by 2050.

Aurélien Hamelle, President, Strategy & Sustainability at TotalEnergies, offered context on the global energy picture at the Sustainability & Climate 2026 Progress Report presentation.

"Electricity demand is growing. Renewable energy supply is growing very much, that's the fastest-growing energy, as you can see here," he explains.

"But then coal is still growing today. The pace of growth of coal has declined, but it is still growing. Gas is growing steadily, 2.3%. And then finally, oil demand is growing at the same pace as the population, which is a very steady historical trend."

Against that backdrop, France's sector-level milestones are significant. By 2030, the country is targeting 66% of new car sales to be electric and a 25% increase in public transport use.

The country's 50 largest industrial sites are earmarked for decarbonisation. In the built environment, the SNBC calls for an 85% reduction in oil-fired boilers in commercial buildings, a 60% reduction in the residential sector and a complete phase-out of fossil oil for heating by 2035.

Building a low-carbon energy supply

Meeting these targets requires a major expansion of low-carbon generation.

France already starts from a strong position: in 2024, 95% of its electricity came from renewable and nuclear sources, making it the leading electricity producer in Europe.

The SNBC sets out ambitious targets to build on that base by 2035: 15GW of installed offshore wind capacity, a threefold increase in solar photovoltaic capacity and an additional 2.8GW of hydropower.

On hydrogen, France is looking to deploy around 8GW of electrolysers to produce green hydrogen, while biomethane production is targeted to increase sixfold.

Nuclear power, renewables, hydrogen, biogas and alternative fuels are all positioned as pillars of the country's future energy mix.

Going forward, France will be working to convert its longstanding reliance on imported fossil fuels into a largely domestically generated, low-carbon energy system, and the legislative and investment frameworks to do so are now firmly in place.