French environment minister quits as farm law opens door to contested pesticides

"I told the Prime Minister yesterday that ​the ‌conditions for me to stay in the ⁠government were no longer being met and I presented my resignation to ‌the president today as a result," Barbut wrote in ⁠a post published Wednesday on LinkedIn.

"Contrary to the commitments that had been made to me, the government prevented any debate on the removal of this measure," Monique Barbut said, adding the reversal was "one environmental setback too many".

On Tuesday, parliament approved an agriculture bill designed to "reduce constraints" on French farmers, which reintroduces, by a waiver, the use of two bee-harming pesticides: acetamiprid, part of the neonicotinoid group ‌of pesticides, on hazelnuts and flupyradifurone on sugar beets, apples and cherries.

Proponents say French sugar beet, apple and hazelnut farmers need the insecticides – forbidden in France since 2018 and 2019 respectively – to help them compete with their European counterparts. 

The pesticides are allowed in the European Union, but individual countries can limit their use.

Environmental campaigners and some unions representing small-scale farmers have ‌said the bill benefits the large-scale agro industry and ignores scientific warnings about ​risks to pollinators, ecosystems and health.

"This resignation is, above all, symptomatic of the disastrous track record of a decade of 'Macronism' when it comes to the environment," campaign group Greenpeace said in a statement, having previously denounced the bill as a "disgrace". 

Why France's agriculture law may not help the farmers it claims to defend

'Politics is not my world'

Barbut previously headed WWF France after serving as executive secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

"Politics is not my world, and if this is what politics is about, it definitely never will be," she said.

"In 2016, France chose to ban acetamiprid in the name of the precautionary principle, based on the scientific evidence available at the time," Barbut said.

"Ten years later, far from dispelling concerns, scientific studies continue to raise doubts about its effects on human health and the environment," she added.

The waiver needs to be approved by France's health and safety agency, ​Anses, and cannot exceed three years. Anses has just two months to deliver its conclusions, which critics say is too short.

Last year, France's constitutional court blocked the re-introduction of ⁠acetamiprid ​over insufficient safeguards, after more than one million people signed a petition against it. 

(With newswires)