Is Paris Greenwashing its History?

Paris is in the midst of a massive transformation  to become one of the greenest cities in Europe. The city sees this greening plan as part of a historic continuum, but critics say this is greenwashing. The Paris greening plan is ambitious and admirable--but history and language matter. Let's not admire a tree and call it a forest. 

This podcast was created by Roger Mummert for www.theparisproject.net.

Transcript

Paris Has Always Been Green (Oui? ou Non?)

Is today’s greening of Paris part of a continuum—or is history being greenwashed?

Paris is going verte. The city is in the midst of implementing a comprehensive greening plan. It calls for green roofs and gardens, more bicycles and recycling, fewer cars, reduced carbon emissions, repurposed waste products, more breathable air and cleaner, more accessible waterways. 

Trees are a critical part of the plan: 170,000 new trees are being planted through 2026. These are meant to augment (and in some cases replace) today’s half-million trees, 200,000 of them on streets and 300,000 trees in parks. Many mature trees, which do the heavy lifting of cleansing the air and sequestering carbon, are being protected under heritage designation or patrimoine arborée.

This ambitious planting program is called le Plan Arbre. It’s detailed in a hundred-page document on the city of Paris website. It’s in French but if you don’t speak it, illustrations provide the gist.

Le Plan Arbre is championed by Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who often is seen riding her bicycle around town. And the plan is ambitious: It aims to make Paris one of the greenest cities in the world. It is incredibly exciting seeing this green transformation unfolding on the streets of Paris today. This is not the first green initiative for Paris, and this city’s history of green spaces—and the central role of the tree—is open to debate. The city promotes its present greening program as part of continuum. Critics call that a whole lotta merde. The city is greenwashing its history. 

Le Plan Arbre: Green Goals Defined

The city’s greening goals are detailed online at www.paris.fr. There are four basic points:

• Trees are part of the city’s heritage. Mature trees, some regarded as historic, make an immeasurable contribution, and their health must be maintained.

• Trees are a city’s best ally against climate change. They provide a cooling effect through evaporatranspiration and play a key role in sequestering carbon. New green spaces and urban forests must be at the heart of new urban projects.

• Trees provide biodiversity and promote the survival and wide range of animals that live in them or depend on them.

• Climate change must be accommodated. Trees, shrubs and greenery must be chosen, maintained and replanted in a way appropriate to a changing climate. 

But here’s the weed in the garden: A special report called “Aux Arbes Parisien!” lauds Baron Haussmann, the city prefect who oversaw the renovation of Paris (1853-1870) for “massively introducing” trees that now form a green heritage of Paris. Adolphe Alphand, his director of parks, is anointed “the father of green spaces.”

This…historical benevolence appears to have influenced a recent New York Times article: “The City of Light Has a Whole Lot of Trees.” It states: “Under the vision of public servant Georges-Eugene Haussmann and his head engineer Adolphe Alphand, trees also played a central role in the city’s colossal 19th century renovation.” 

C’est vrai? Did they? Or is this a vestigial canard, always around, often repeated?

To be fair, when Haussmann’s work was done, Parisians promenaded in the shade of twice as many trees as the city had seen two decades earlier: in total 80,000 trees were planted. Haussmann underscores this fact in his memoir. 

However, tree inventory in 1850 was at a low point because insurgents had chopped down countless numbers of trees to form barricades in the eight uprisings and revolutions in the previous two decades. Historians suggest that Haussmann’s obsession with creating straight, wide “cannonball” boulevards was strategic: better to impede barricade-building by insurgents. 

Haussmann lined the new boulevards with chestnut trees and London planetrees. He even designating their precise location 5 meters from apartment buildings. He chose chestnuts and planes for their abundant foliage, and in his memoir he faults other trees for being stingy with shade or for dropping their leaves too soon. Did Haussmann love trees and recognize their aesthetic, environmental and spiritual attributes? Or were trees to him just a garnish of misdirection? 

“Alors, where did they old neighborhood go?”  

“Ooh, regarder les arbes….trés jolie!” 

Let’s not admire a tree and call it a forest. It’s great that Paris is planting 170,000 new trees, but Paris is not alone. Madrid has committed to planting a half-million trees, New York has a goal of planting 1 million new trees above the 5 million growing there now.  

The greening of Paris did not begin with Haussmann but way before. And the city’s notion of a green continuum blurs its history and diminishes the hard work of green advocates, including tree activists who often stand between the city’s chain saws and mature trees that are slated for destruction.