PARIS (AFP) – Car advertisements in France will have to include messages encouraging people to consider less-polluting travel alternatives from 2022 as part of the government’s drive to rein in CO2 emissions.

The requirement, set to come into force in March, was confirmed in the government’s Official Journal this week after years of lobbying from environmental groups – many of which seek an outright ban on automobile ads.

Similar to mandatory reminders to eat healthy on food and drink ads, the standardised messages will suggest that drivers adopt more environmentally responsible options when possible.

Carmakers will have three choices: ‘Consider carpooling’, ‘For day-to-day use’, ‘take public transportation’ or ‘For short trips, opt for walking or cycling’.

They will be required for all media – print, TV, radio or Internet – and must also include the hashtag “#SeDeplacerMoinsPolluer” (Move and Pollute Less).

The ads will also have to include a vehicle’s CO2 emission class, a new ranking system to inform consumers about the environmental impact that is part of a widespread climate action law approved by lawmakers in July.

So far automakers appear ready to comply, if not enthusiastically.

“It means that overall, we have to find alternatives to the automobile. It’s the first time we’ve had such a direct message from the government,” head of Hyundai France Lionel French Keogh. told AFP.

“We are going to adapt – moving toward zero-emission vehicles is the course of history,” he added.

“But there is an irony: they make no distinction between the type of motorisation.

It’s a bit counterproductive to the government’s aim of promoting electric vehicles,” he said.

Volkswagen, the third-biggest car seller in France, after Stellantis and Renault, said “We will comply with the legislation and analyse how best to comply with our advertising agency.”

As part of the new French law, advertising for the most polluting vehicles – those that emit more than 123 grammes of carbon dioxide per kilometre, including many popular SUVs – will be completely outlawed from 2028.

LAS VEGAS (AP) – The annual CES gadget convention will be three days instead of four following an uptick of COVID-19 cases and the withdrawal of some of its best-known tech presenters.

Convention organiser The Consumer Technology Association announced in a statement on Friday that CES will run from January 5-7, one day shorter than planned. The event still has over 2,200 exhibitors confirmed to show off their products at the Las Vegas convention, spokeswoman Jeanne Abella said.

The announcement follows the withdrawal of tech giants from CES last week citing health risks of the Omicron variant, including cellphone carriers like T-Mobile, whose CEO had been slated to deliver a keynote speech.

Computer maker Lenovo and social media companies like Twitter and Facebook parent company Meta also cancelled plans to attend. News outlets including CNN said they would cancel or reduce coverage.

CES was held entirely virtually last year. It will be a hybrid of online and in-person this year, with organisers offering digital registration allowing access to around 40 livestreamed events, Abella said.

On the convention floor, attendees will be required to show proof of vaccination and wear masks. Organisers are asking participants to get COVID-19 tests before they arrive, but negative results are not required.

JAKARTA (AFP) – Indonesia, the world’s biggest exporter of coal used in electricity generation, yesterday said it has banned January exports of the fuel in a move aimed at safeguarding its domestic power supply.

Rising demand for electricity in the country risks widespread blackouts unless more supplies are diverted to power stations, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said in a statement.

Indonesia exports the majority of its coal but mandates that producers must set aside minimum amounts to supply the nation’s power plants.

The decision comes against a backdrop of surging demand, as post-pandemic economic growth across the world drives electricity needs that cannot be met from less-polluting alternatives.

The International Energy Agency last month said global demand for coal, the world’s biggest source of greenhouse gases, hit a record in 2021 and would be sustained into 2022, threatening plans set out at last year’s COP26 climate change conference to cut emissions.

Last January, Indonesia exported almost 30 million tonnes of coal, according to the Central Statistics Bureau.

The export ban was imposed after coal miners failed to meet the so-called Domestic Market Obligation (DMO), under which they are obliged to supply at least 25 percent of a mine’s approved production plan at a maximum sales price of USD70 per metric tonne – less than half the global benchmark price.

The temporary export ban would prevent almost 20 power plants providing a total of 10.9 gigawatts of power from shutting down, a senior official at the ministry, Ridwan Jamaludin, said in a statement yesterday.

The government would re-evaluate the policy after January 5, he said.

“We can’t let the companies’ disobedience to comply with the DMO disrupt the investment climate and the national economy,” he said.

Indonesia has pledged to stop building new coal-fired power plants from 2023 and to be carbon neutral by 2060.