France Wants To Obliterate The Fossil Fuel Industry By 2040

As if the title of the Paris Climate Accord wasn’t enough to give it away, France is crazy about making sure that the human race doesn’t get destroyed by climate change. Just to prove that it is prepared to go to any lengths to reduce carbon emissions, the country plans to stop producing fuel by 2040.

The legislation, which essentially seals the fate of gas and oil companies in France is set to be passed this year, The New York Times reports. Once it takes effect, all explorations, drilling projects, and production in the country and other territories will have until 2040 to cease all operations.

President Emmanuel Macros is leading the charge to make France completely carbon neutral by the time 2050 comes around. He aims to do this by clamping down on carbon emissions, which is largely responsible for man-made climate change.

As to what the legislation would even entail, it essentially involves no longer giving permits for any kind of oil exploration. On that note, the gesture is largely symbolic in nature. France only produces about 6 million barrels of oil each year, which is about one percent of its annual consumption.

More to the point, even if it stops producing fossil fuel, the country will still be importing the resource from other countries. As a result, this legislation won’t likely have much of an impact on the oil industry.

There’s also the matter of Total, one of the world’s largest oil companies, which just happens to be based in France. There’s no word yet as to what this new legislation would mean for the company, Gizmodo notes and it has provided no statements addressing the matter.

One thing is clear. If France does pass this bill, it would a historic event that would reverberate throughout the world.