Jean-Marc Jancovici said France has been too soft on the electrification of energy uses to move away from oil dependence.
This shift is critical because continued reliance on oil threatens both the climate and global economic stability. As the world transitions its energy infrastructure, the ability to rapidly electrify heating and transport determines a nation's resilience to volatile fossil fuel markets.
Speaking during an interview on Feb. 12, 2026 [1], Jancovici, an engineer and professor at Mines ParisTech, criticized the pace of the French transition. He said, "We have been much too soft on the electrification of uses."
Jancovici, who also serves as the president of the Shift Project, described the move away from oil as an "absolute urgency" [2]. He said that oil has structured the global economy for more than a century [3], making the process of decoupling from it a complex systemic challenge.
During the 30-minute discussion [4] at the France Inter studios in Paris, Jancovici detailed how electrification serves as the fastest route to reduce oil dependency. He said that the transition is not merely an environmental necessity but a strategic imperative.
However, this transition creates new vulnerabilities. Jancovici said, "Electricity will be the new oil and the new point of tension in our society" [5]. This suggests that while oil dependence decreases, the competition for electrical capacity and infrastructure will become the primary driver of social and political conflict.
His warnings emphasize that the transition requires more than just replacing fuel sources; it requires a total overhaul of how energy is consumed across all sectors of the economy.
“"We have been much too soft on the electrification of uses."”
Jancovici's assessment highlights a pivot in the energy transition discourse: the risk is shifting from fuel scarcity to grid capacity. By framing electricity as the 'new oil,' he suggests that the geopolitical and economic tensions previously associated with petroleum will likely migrate to the electrical grid, making the speed of electrification a matter of national security.
