France / Soils: €34.7bn of public schemes identified as artificialisation drivers (IGF / IGEDD)

"34.7 Bn of public support, via more than 300 instruments, are likely to have an impact on soil artificialisation", according to a report by the French Inspectorate General of Finances (IGF) and the Inspectorate General of the Environment and Sustainable Development (IGEDD), published on 22/07/2025.

Entitled "Public resources and practices damaging to biodiversity", the report was commissioned by the government to implement a plan to redirect or eliminate the public resources that are most damaging to biodiversity by 2030, as part of the National Biodiversity Strategy.

The task force listed all the existing public resources at the time of the 2024 Budget Bill, and analysed them line by line in terms of their impact on biodiversity. It identified more than 730 schemes, representing more than €92 billion in the agriculture, fisheries, aquaculture and maritime transport, forestry, land-use planning and energy sectors. "At this stage, given the issues at stake, the policies implemented are not sufficiently aligned with the conservation and restoration objectives set by the SNB, and the…