Jean-François MAURO has been the regional director of ADEME in Martinique since November 30, 2015. Having held the same position in the Poitou-Charentes region, in Poitiers, from 2010 to November 2015, he is a man of experience whom we had the opportunity to meet.
What can you tell us about ADEME in Martinique? How many people work there, and what are your main responsibilities?
ADEME is the French Environment and Energy Management Agency. We are a government agency tasked with supporting the ecological and energy transition. The agency is a public institution under the joint supervision of the Ministry of the Environment, Energy, and the Sea and the Ministry of National Education, Higher Education, and Research. ADEME is a «large organization,» employing nearly 1,000 staff members nationwide. ADEME operates in two areas:
– A mission focused on expertise and support, led by our Angers-based center of expertise,
– Local-level action: how to implement major public policies related to energy, the environment, and sustainable development in each region, taking into account the specific characteristics of those regions.
Of the 1,000 employees at ADEME, half make up this executive division for regional operations, which includes 17 regional offices—13 in mainland France and 4 in overseas territories—as is currently the case in Martinique.
The Martinique regional office consists of about ten staff members, occasionally supplemented by civic service volunteers or fixed-term contract employees, depending on the workload; The team has been in place for many years and has a very good understanding of the region’s specific characteristics and the challenges facing Martinique. In terms of priorities, we currently have three key areas of focus:
– The first, and this is only natural, involves continuing to develop renewable energy, including the mobilization of significant funds at the national level to meet this challenge.
– The second is to help evolve our «Waste» policy toward a circular economy. Historically, ADEME has always been involved in the «Waste» sector; It is in our agency’s DNA: initially, ADEME worked to organize the collection, management, and treatment of waste. Subsequently, we focused on gaining a better understanding of the costs associated with this collection and management. These costs are significant; they place a burden on local governments, and from an environmental perspective—in terms of resource management—it became essential to develop policies to prevent waste generation. How can we ensure that we generate as little waste as possible? Today, these policies for prevention, management, and collection must be part of a new framework: the circular economy; it is an emerging concept that requires us to take a comprehensive approach to the issue of waste—no longer viewing it as a constraint or an inevitability, but rather as a resource and an opportunity. The challenge of the circular economy is to help economic actors understand that better resource management—whether in procurement, eco-design, recycling, or industrial and regional ecology—presents an opportunity for new products, new services, and new markets; it is a driver of associated revenue and jobs. It is a genuine economic development challenge for local stakeholders. We must support this transition, first by educating people so that everyone fully understands this new concept.
– The third thematic priority is energy efficiency. How can we ensure that, when we travel, produce, and build, we have the most energy-efficient equipment, services, and products? So how can we ensure that our buildings are as energy-efficient as possible, and that we have a transportation system that allows us to switch from one mode of transportation to another—again, using the most energy-efficient technologies possible? How can we also improve the efficiency of industrial processes by reducing consumption of electricity, steam, lighting, and so on? In a region like ours that is energy-dependent, this is a crucial issue.
Today, ADEME serves everyone, using different approaches depending on the target audience (local governments, businesses, nonprofit organizations, the general public, etc.).
Are some of these grants also funded by ADEME?
For all target groups—whether local governments, the business sector (small, medium, or large companies; industrial firms), the nonprofit sector, or public institutions— ADEME provides direct support by first offering its expertise across a wide range of topics (energy, renewable energy, sustainable mobility, urban planning, waste management, etc.). We can support a project leader from the very early stages by providing advice, helping them avoid potential pitfalls, and sharing lessons learned from projects carried out both in Martinique and across all of ADEME’s regional offices.
ADEME is also able to provide financial support for projects, whether through studies—which may be funded, for example, to objectively assess situations, help select a solution, and refine and better scale projects— . Beyond this assistance, ADEME primarily provides investment support; thus, it plays a concrete role in the implementation of these projects.
At the national level, ADEME has a so-called ’intervention” budget—for project support—of approximately 600,000,000 euros per year. In Martinique, depending on the pace of project development, our intervention budget amounts to nearly 10,000,000 euros per year. The main recipients of our funding today remain local governments and economic stakeholders.
ADEME clearly wants to strengthen its strategy and engage more directly with economic stakeholders. In recent years, ADEME has primarily developed so-called “regional” initiatives led by local governments. Entrepreneurs have not necessarily felt engaged by these initiatives. The idea is to address this by building more direct relationships with business leaders, striving to be as pragmatic as possible, and working first with those who have a vision and somewhat forward-thinking ambitions; identifying these trailblazers to help them bring their projects to fruition, and once those projects are realized, creating a snowball effect. Business leaders pay close attention to what their peers have to say. The idea is to highlight outstanding achievements led by a company and then widely communicate them within a specific industry, sector, or type of business to show that it is possible and that, to succeed, ADEME is a partner working alongside them.
You mentioned a communication aid—is it being used to its full potential?
The 10,000,000 euros mentioned represent actual funding allocated to projects in Martinique. ADEME has the capacity to mobilize so-called «own» funds or to mobilize so-called «contractual» funds used at the local level. Regarding so-called “own” funds, we will request a national allocation based on the projects submitted to us at any given time. There is no allocation specifically earmarked for Martinique through this channel.
For contract-based funds, the opposite is true. ADEME has chosen to partner with local governments—historically the Departmental Council and the Region, and today the CTM—because we share a common vision and common goals. The idea is to create a financial synergy such that when ADEME contributes 1 euro, the CTM contributes 1 euro, the SMEM contributes 1 euro, EDF contributes 1 euro, and in the future, the ERDF will contribute 1 euro. The goal is to combine our strengths and offset our respective weaknesses in order to work toward a common objective. We are working with funding allocations dedicated to Martinique that are backed by State-Region-Department project contracts for the 2015–2020 period. For ADEME, this funding package amounts to 3.6 million euros annually, serving as a sort of core funding base for Martinique.
Are businesses in Martinique turning to these funds more and more? Do you sense a real shift in awareness among business leaders?
Our sense is that there is a growing awareness among companies that have the resources to do so: large companies, industrial firms, or companies that have the in-house expertise to identify the challenges. On the other hand, there is a whole segment of small and medium-sized businesses for whom the day-to-day reality is simply keeping the «shop» running. There’s real work to be done to reach these companies by educating them, to help them understand that addressing environmental issues—such as energy and water consumption and better resource and waste management—creates room to maneuver. The challenge is to be persuasive enough to get them on board. It’s also about making life easier for these organizations, which lack the in-house expertise or time to implement these policies. It’s our responsibility to offer programs that are as flexible as possible to attract these businesses and enable them to bring their projects to fruition.
There are two aspects of the support offered by ADEME that may be little known: ADEME can work to build the capacity of stakeholders. For example, in the construction sector, there are now a number of certifications that have become essential, notably the RGE certification, recognized as an environmental guarantee. The challenge lies in ensuring that as many companies and employees as possible receive training, and ADEME is able to secure funding to facilitate this training and launch training programs throughout Martinique so that these stakeholders can enhance their skills. We are already doing this for the construction sector, and we can also do so for other sectors related to our areas of focus. Training and skill development also receive support from ADEME.
We also have what are known as “support” assignments. ADEME has a small team in Martinique (about ten people). We must therefore partner with organizations that have proven expertise and share our objectives, which will carry out these support assignments on behalf of ADEME. For example, we can provide funding to chambers of commerce to hire project managers who can reach out directly to businesses to discuss their situation, conduct an initial assessment, and make a number of recommendations. Once this project manager, in consultation with the business owner, has identified an issue, ADEME steps in to provide the necessary support to that business.
When you say “chamber of commerce,” who are you referring to? Not a private company or an association…
It could be the Chamber of Commerce and Industry or the Chamber of Trades and Crafts. However, an association, federation, consortium, or business club could also potentially hire this type of program manager.
An organization that possesses in-house expertise and brings together a sufficient number of companies within a given industry or sector may be eligible to host a project manager and receive support from ADEME for a period of 3 years. This support includes partial coverage of the project manager’s salary, assistance with their relocation, and funding for communication and outreach activities led by the project manager; ;
An organization that has genuine legitimacy and a solid plan is eligible for this support.
What are the key environmental statistics to keep in mind regarding Martinique? What is the difference between the Poitou-Charentes region and Martinique?
We are on an island that will be much more severely affected by the effects of climate change. There are challenges related to both mitigation and, above all, adaptation to climate change. This aspect is not sufficiently developed in Martinique today. Unfortunately, some aspects of this climate change are now inevitable. How do we anticipate its effects? How do we protect ourselves from situations in which inaction would be far more costly and dramatic than the cost of taking action? In terms of mitigation, how can we chart a course leading from dependence to self-sufficiency? How can we, on an island territory, make the best use of the resources at our disposal while reducing our dependence on the outside world—particularly in terms of energy, but also with regard to a number of material resources? .
However, when it comes to energy, we need to strengthen efforts to manage energy demand—and in particular, electricity demand. We should first address demand and then develop renewable energy solutions to meet it.
