French PM calls on companies to prepare energy plan

Paris, Aug 30 (IANS) French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne called for companies in France to prepare an energy plan by September. The call comes amid a Europe-wide energy crisis due to climate change and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Speaking at a meeting of the Movement of Enterprises of France (MEDEF) on Monday, Borne said that common goals were required.

"We are entering an era of collective responsibility," she was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

"Climate change is no longer an inconvenient truth, it's a destructive reality. We must implement radical and innovative solutions, initiate powerful changes in the way we produce, and invest in training for the jobs of tomorrow."

If Russia were to cut all gas exports to Europe, France would need to quickly find ways to "make ecological transition an opportunity for innovation, growth and employment," Borne said.

"We already know that we will have less gas this winter compared to the other years," she said.

"This crisis is a new challenge for European solidarity, because in return, we will strongly suffer the consequences of a European economic slowdown. We only have one path, lower energy consumption."

At the beginning of August, the country's minister for energy transition Agnes Pannier-Runacher said that France's gas reserves were already 80 per cent full, in preparation for possible shortages this winter.

Pannier-Runacher said that France was ahead of its goals, and that the gas reserves would be 100 per cent filled by Nov. 1.

French President Emmanuel Macron is also expected to hold a defense council meeting on Friday, to discuss France's energy plan for the winter.