Between 1990 and 2015, energy-related CO₂ emissions in France fell by 18% despite a 44% rise in GDP. The downward trend since 2005 is attributable to a steep decrease in energy intensity and the carbon content of the energy consumed, mainly due to the growth of nuclear power in the 1990s and renewable energy sources since 2005.

Between 1990 and 2015, CO₂ emissions in the manufacturing sector alone (except from transport) fell by 31%. This is partly explained by the expansion of the service sector and the partial replacement of domestic manufactured goods by imports. Technological progress has played a key role in cutting industrial emissions by 28%.

Since the early 2000s, the improvement of vehicles’ energy efficiency and use of biofuels have driven down emissions stemming from the transport of people, which nevertheless remain above their 1990 level. The same factors, in addition to a drop in freight demand since the 2008 crisis and progress in logistical organisation, helped to decrease emissions from the transport of goods.