Commitments, reciprocity, trust: two years after the State-Afilog charter, can we still build warehouses in France?
Logistics real estate stakeholders remain as committed as ever to decarbonizing their operations. Nevertheless, access to land and obtaining administrative approvals remain an obstacle-strewn process.
Concern has replaced hope. Two years after the signing of the mutual commitment charter between Afilog and the Ministries of Ecological Transition, Housing and Industry, the outcome is mixed for logistics real estate stakeholders. While they are sparing no effort to decarbonize their operations, notably through major R&D investments, industry professionals are facing land that is becoming increasingly inaccessible and approval applications whose actual processing times remain just as lengthy.
At an Afilog breakfast event held on May 25 at the Cercle de l’Union Interalliée with Business Immo, Salvi Cals, Managing Director of Panattoni France and co-lead of the charter, presented several findings from the review of around 60 projects tracked under the charter, which was signed by approximately 80 companies. “ One of the objectives of this charter is to encourage better coordination and dialogue between project sponsors and reviewing departments. Overall, this has worked, with building permit processing times averaging six months shorter, he says. But for environmental permits, processing times unfortunately remain around 12 months. ”
In addition to these still excessive timelines, Olivier Barge, Operations Director of the APRC Group and also co-lead of the charter, noted that “ the economic and environmental performance of a supply chain depends on optimizing transport, which entails developing large warehouses close to consumption areas. Yet it is in these locations that land is becoming increasingly scarce and difficult to access, ” notably because elected officials do not sufficiently understand these professions.
Can we still build warehouses in France ?
The question on every private-sector stakeholder’s mind was therefore raised at the roundtable: is it still possible to build warehouses in France, today and tomorrow ? Echoing the difficulty the conference organizers encountered in bringing together State and local authority representatives on the subject, François Noisette, Inspector General for the Environment and Sustainable Development (IGEDD), who supports the national mission to mobilize industrial land, acknowledged disparities in expertise among State departments. “ Reviewing departments in certain regions have a better understanding of logistics issues, he observes. Moreover, greater expertise is brought to bear on major projects than on more modest-sized ones. ” In his view, industry stakeholders would benefit from offering training or support modules on logistics issues.
Nevertheless, while awaiting a possible update to the Charter that would include an “ education ” component, Claude Samson, President of Afilog, noted the unwavering commitment of the charter’s signatories, “ who go beyond what the law requires in terms of environmental commitments, ” for example by installing more photovoltaic panels on warehouse roofs than required: regulations require 30 % photovoltaic coverage, while industry professionals commit to an average of 50 % across their portfolios over three years. With this acceleration of its environmental transition, the sector has upheld its end of the agreement embodied by the State/Afilog Charter and may therefore, in time, be surprised by the remaining or new obstacles to developing logistics space that nevertheless meets the needs of the area.
