PARIS, July 26 (UPI) -- French legislation that focuses on the reduction of harmful emissions from urban complexes and the transportation sector deserves praise, the IEA said.
Nobuo Tanaka, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, praised France for adopting a measure that prioritizes the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from buildings and the transportation sector.
The IEA said both sectors make up the vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions in France.
"The government's goals to decrease CO2 emissions by 75 percent by 2050 and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector to 1990 levels by 2020 are both ambitious and encouraging," the IEA director said Monday in a statement.
The IEA added that France has one of the lowest carbon footprints of any industrialized nation because of the "substantial role" that nuclear power plays in the national energy sector.
The director, however, said France had more work to do in terms of nuclear waste and transparency in the electricity sector.
"The government has a huge responsibility to ensure that the nuclear waste management is addressed in a sustainable way," the director stressed.
