Why is there a backlash against climate policies?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 28 November 2019
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A year ago more than a quarter of a million people took to the streets across France, in what became known as the “gilets jaunes” protests. They began as a reaction to an increase in fuel tax - a tax which was supposed to help the environment, but which the protesters said meant they could no longer afford to drive their cars or get to work.
These were the first high profile demonstrations against policies designed to tackle climate change, but they put a spotlight on a sense of unrest that has spread far beyond France.
So if it is widely accepted that climate change is a real threat, why is there a backlash against climate policies?
Contributors include:
Jacline Mouraud - Original member of the “gilets jaunes” Matias Turkkila - Editor of the Finns Party Carol Linnitt - Co-founder of The Narwhal Simone Tagliapietra - Research Fellow at Bruegel think tank
Presenter: Tanya Beckett Producers: Beth Sagar-Fenton & Josephine Casserly
(Yellow Vests (Gilets jaunes) protest in France against a diesel tax increase, justified as an anti-pollution levy. Credit: Xavier Leoty /Getty Images.)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Inquiry on the BBC World Service. |
| 0:04.0 | I'm Tanya Beckett. |
| 0:05.4 | Each week, one question for expert witnesses |
| 0:09.2 | and an answer. It's been a year. |
| 0:13.0 | It's been a year since over a quarter of a million people took to the streets across France. |
| 0:25.2 | They turned out en masse to protest against a hike in the tax on fuel, |
| 0:30.4 | which was aimed at helping the environment, but which they said served chiefly to penalize them. |
| 0:37.0 | Dressed in yellow high visibility jackets earning them the name of the Jilé Joan, |
| 0:42.0 | they caught the attention of media around the world. |
| 0:46.0 | They were the first high profile demonstrations against policies designed to tackle climate change and |
| 0:55.6 | they put a spotlight on a sense of unrest that has spread far beyond France. |
| 1:00.3 | But if it's widely accepted that climate change is a real threat, why is there a |
| 1:07.8 | backlash against climate policies? Part 1 buried in the countryside. |
| 1:16.0 | Hello, I'm Jacqueline Muho. |
| 1:18.0 | Hello, I'm Jacqueline Muro, and I lived in Brittany. I am with the first the original Gile |
| 1:30.8 | Gilejon. |
| 1:31.8 | Jacqueline is a woman in her early 50s living in the countryside in northern France. |
| 1:37.0 | She's a hypnotherapist and drives long distances for her work |
| 1:41.0 | when the tax on fuel was increased in 2018, it was a |
| 1:45.8 | financial blow. By the way, while Jacqueline speaks some English, she was more |
| 1:51.0 | comfortable doing the interview in French. |
| 1:53.0 | I was 2,000 kilo-meter per moor. |
... |
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