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CLIMATE CRISIS

Climate activists pour paint on Charles Ray sculpture in Paris

Environmental activists on Friday dumped orange paint over an outdoor sculpture by the American artist Charles Ray in central Paris, the latest in a string of artwork defacements aimed at spurring greater government efforts to fight climate change.

Published: 18 November 2022 17:25 CET
Climate activists pour paint on Charles Ray sculpture in Paris
Workers clean up the 'Horse and Rider' statue by the artist Charles Ray, after climate activists threw paint on it (Photo by Alain JOCARD / AFP)

The lifesize “Horse and Rider” stands in front of the Bourse de Commerce contemporary art museum, which houses part of the collection of French fashion billionaire Francois Pinault.

The action was claimed by Derniere Renovation (“Last Renewal”), which showed two activists kneeling and holding hands in front of the doused sculpture on its website.

They had also put a white T-shift over the rider with the phrase “We have 858 days left”, apparently a reference to studies that say carbon emissions must peak by 2025 if the planet is to have a viable future.

“Eco-vandalism is taken up a notch,” Culture Minister Rima Abdel Malak, who visited the site as workers cleaned up the paint, wrote on Twitter.

“Art and ecology are not incompatible. It’s the opposite, they are common causes,” she said.

The incident came as climate activists targeted an Andy Warhol work in Milan on Friday, covering a car repainted by the American pop artist with flour — two weeks after the same group threw pea soup at a Van Gogh painting in Rome.

Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring” in The Hague and Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” in London have also been targeted, drawing widespread condemnation from officials.

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LIVING IN FRANCE

Households in south-west France see 42 percent hike in water prices

Households in south-west France face a 42 percent increase in the cost of water as local authorities introduce 'seasonal pricing' in an effort to encourage people to save water over the summer months.

Published: 3 June 2024 12:20 CEST
Households in south-west France see 42 percent hike in water prices

The 37 communes that make up the Toulouse Métropole area – Toulouse plus the surrounding small towns and suburbs – have from June 1st introduced tarification saisonnière (seasonal tarifs) for water.

The idea is to make water more expensive in the summer and cheaper in the winter, and encourage people to save water during the summer when the area is often hit by droughts.

Between June 1st and October 31st, water will be 42 percent more expensive than the current cost per metre cubed.

For the remaining seven months it will be 30 percent cheaper than the current cost.

Householders in the Toulouse Métropole will therefore pay €4.40 per metre cubed in the summer and €2.58 per m3 in the winter.

READ ALSO How is my French water bill calculated?

The local authority says that the majority of households should see an overall saving in annual bills – due to the lower winter rate – but the idea is to encourage people to save as much water as possible in the summer, when drought often affects the area.

Of the roughly 1 million households affected, 90 percent receive their water from the Garonne, a river whose flow has been declining in recent years due to the effects of the climate crisis.

Large parts of the south-west of France are regularly placed on drought warnings during the summer, with local authorities imposing measures to limit water use – you can check the drought status of your local commune here.

Jean-Luc Moudenc, mayor of Toulouse and president of the Toulouse Métropole area, said: “The high temperatures and low rainfall observed in our region in 2022 and 2023 foreshadow the climate that the metropolis will experience in the future.

“As water is not an infinite resource, we must act collectively to preserve it.

“To adapt to climate change, Toulouse Métropole intends to reduce the amount of water taken from the Garonne by 2030, in line with the French government’s Water Plan, which calls for a 10 percent reduction. Modernisation of pipe networks to limit leaks, deployment of “intelligent” watering systems for green spaces, distribution of water-saving kits from June 2024, and rainwater recovery and storage in major development projects are just some of the solutions deployed.

“Among these measures, seasonal pricing is one of the levers for reducing day-to-day water use.

Everyone is encouraged to be more careful with their consumption, particularly from June to October, the five months of the year when water resources are at their weakest.”

Households on a low income can benefit from an exemption or spread payments – and are advised to contact their water provider.

The Toulouse Metropole is the largest area so far to introduce seasonal pricing for water, but several other towns have introduced it in recent years including Grasse in southern France, Montpellier, Libourne and Dunkirk.

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