France announces ambitious €100BN post-COVID infrastructure plan

THE French government has announced a €100BN investment into the country’s infrastructure in a bid to fight the economic fallout of COVID-19.

The ambitious plan follows a predicted 11 percent fall in national output for 2020.

Of the money pledged, more than €30BN will be put towards sustainable energy and transport.

Above: France plans to "build back better" and invest massively in sustainable infrastructure.

The bulk of the money will go to building retrofits, railways, and hydrogen infrastructure.

€11BN will go towards transport, of which €4.7BN will be spent on the rail network, €1.9BN on green vehicles and €1.2BN on “everyday travel” - such as cycle lanes.

€2BN will be spent on hydrogen infrastructure, while another €1.2BN will go to helping decarbonise the energy industry.

Above: €11BN will be invested in transport networks throughout France.

France follows a number of other world governments in massively investing in infrastructure projects in an attempt to counter the COVID-19 economic crisis.

The United Kingdom has also pledged to “build back better” and invest in large-scale sustainable infrastructure projects, while China has pledged to double their high-speed rail network by 2035.