Macron talks environment minister out of quitting over pesticide U-turn

Barbut submitted her resignation to Macron on Wednesday morning after parliament backed the restricted reintroduction of two insecticides banned in France since 2018 but allowed in the European Union.

Resignation refused

"Contrary to the commitments that had been made to me, the government prevented any debate on the removal of this measure," Barbut, the former head of WWF France, wrote on LinkedIn.

"The French president refused her resignation," government spokesperson Maud Bregeon announced at a press conference later on Wednesday.

France's emergency agriculture bill passed, amid divisions over pesticides

"They agreed on three fundamental pillars that will guide her action: forests, water and environmental health … on which she agreed to remain fully invested."

Macron "assured her of his support," her office told AFP.

Barbut, also former executive secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, will stay due to the "urgency to address the consequences of climate change," her team added.

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 Government's 'inability' to act

France has so far this year endured three punishing heatwaves that have disrupted daily life, closed schools and fuelled wildfires.

Green leader Marine Tondelier said Barbut's resignation was "an earthquake for this government".

"It exposes its inability to do even the bare minimum on environmental issues, namely refraining from reauthorising dangerous pesticides," Tondelier said on X.

Fanny Metrat, spokesperson for the Confédération paysanne, a left-leaning farmers' union, said Barbut's near-resignation was "a sign that there is no long-term adaptation strategy".

On Tuesday, parliament passed an agriculture bill giving France's health and safety agency (Anses) the authority to authorise, in some cases, the use of two pesticides called acetamiprid and flupyradifurone, banned in 2016 and 2018 respectively.

Proponents say French sugar beet, apple and hazelnut farmers need the insecticides to help them compete with their European counterparts.

But opponents argue they are dangerous to bees and human health.

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

The vote came after the Constitutional Council, the country's highest court, struck down a provision in another bill last year that tried to reintroduce acetamiprid, saying it posed risks to human health, after more than two million people signed a petition against it.

(With newswires)