Paris Climate Plan Targets Emissions by Replacing Parking With Trees

By 2030, Paris will have removed 60,000 parking spaces and replaced them with trees. That’s one of the goals outlined in the French capital’s new 2024-2030 Climate Plan, which was released last week and will soon be voted on by the Council of Paris.

Paris has already received much international attention for the steps it has taken to reduce carbon emissions in recent years, especially in the decade since Mayor Anne Hidalgo took office. Under the heading “Faster, Fairer, More Local,” this new plan pledges to extend that progress, delivering a city that’s greener, more resilient against extreme weather, more pedestrian-friendly — and freer of cars.To reach this goal, Paris promises to establish 300 hectares of new green space by 2030, with 10% in place by 2026. Removing parking spaces will be a major component of this. For example, the many curbside spots that flank streets can be replaced with relative ease by lines of trees planted in beds that also aid stormwater absorption. The creation of “oasis squares” in each of Paris’ 20 arrondissements will add other green areas where trees and shade structures such as gazebos offer residents respite from the sun and help lower surrounding air temperatures.

This attention to managing extreme heat is also addressed elsewhere in the plan. Recent heat waves have exposed Paris’ vulnerability to rising summer temperatures — the city generates a powerful urban heat island effect, and many of its homes and businesses lack air conditioning. The climate adaptation plan proposes more neighborhood cooling centers, plans to rethink daily schedules for people working outside to prevent heat stress, and a commitment to install insulated or reflective “cool roofs” on 1,000 public buildings.

Pedestrianization will also continue apace, with the city committing to creating a car-free core for the heart of every arrondissement. On the Boulevard Périphérique, Paris’ notorious inner beltway, the city will commandeer a traffic lane for the exclusive use of public transit vehicles and carpoolers. Of the lanes that will remain open to all, speed limits will be reduced to 50 kilometers per hour (31 miles per hour).

The proposals are likely to be voted through in a council where parties in Mayor Hidalgo’s coalition form a majority. Under Hidalgo, the city has developed a reputation for being especially proactive against automotive traffic, steadily barring polluting vehicles from its core, reducing space for cars in many areas and slashing speed limits. Plans such as those to remove parking stand to build on already completed projects that carved out green and pedestrian space in major squares and intersections, transforming them back into the open-air living rooms that they functioned as before the era of late 20th century car dominance.