STORY: Several French cities ban most polluting cars into city centers
SHOOTING TIME: Dec. 30, 2023
DATELINE: Jan. 1, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:57
LOCATION: Paris
CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT

SHOTLIST:
1. various of street views in France
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (French): SUZANNE, Resident in Lyon
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (French): NICOLE, Resident in Lyon
4. SOUNDBITE 3 (French): CLEMENT, Resident in Lyon
5. SOUNDBITE 4 (French): JACQUES, Resident in Lyon

STORYLINE:

Starting from Jan. 1, 2024, cars with the highest emissions, marked by Crit'Air 4 and 5 stickers, are banned in the city centers of Lyon, Grenoble and Strasbourg in France.

Crit'Air stickers show how polluting a vehicle is, with the vehicle being given a sticker with one of six levels on a sliding scale.

The scale goes from a "0" for new energy vehicles to a "5" for the most polluting vehicles.

The control measures have been heatedly debated in France.

SOUNDBITE 1 (French): SUZANNE, Resident in Lyon
"I don't understand, I don't understand. It's all against cars anyway. What worries me is that I would have to buy a second car, with a second insurance. That's not possible."

SOUNDBITE 2 (French): NICOLE, Resident in Lyon
"There are other, much more important issues to resolve than this one."

SOUNDBITE 3 (French): CLEMENT, Resident in Lyon
"In principle, it starts from a good intention, but I think that there are other solutions to solve the problem of pollution."

SOUNDBITE 4 (French): JACQUES, Resident in Lyon
"It can be interesting."

To support car owners, France has put in place financial assistance schemes for changing cars to less polluting ones. 

Cities have also offered financial aid. For example, Grenoble offers car owners affected by the ban the opportunity to receive 1,000 euros for public transport or bicycle rental subscriptions under certain conditions.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Paris.
(XHTV)