Mélenchon proposes ecological conscription and eco-regions at LFI summer school

Environmental platform and civil security

Jean-Luc Mélenchon concluded the summer university of La France Insoumise on Sunday, 23 August 2026, with a 45-minute address setting out his campaign priorities. Speaking in Châteauneuf-sur-Isère near Valence to an audience estimated by party organizers at 10,000 people, the candidate placed ecological transformation at the center of his platform. To counter the wildfires that damaged parts of the country during the summer, Mélenchon proposed establishing a regional civil security guard staffed through mandatory ecological conscription. The proposal adapts his 2022 presidential platform, which called for a nine-month citizen service paid at the national minimum wage to train a broad civil defense reserve.

Mélenchon opened his address by warning that environmental conditions require rapid changes in social and economic organization.

Climate change, the word is almost reassuring. In fact, we are all soon going to land on another planet just by stepping out of our homes.

Redrawing territories into eco-regions

A central component of the party's program involves replacing France's current administrative regions with newly defined eco-regions based on river basin watersheds. Under this framework, the redesigned regional authorities would exercise regulatory power over water management, air quality, coastal areas, forestry, soil fertility, circular economy initiatives, and environmental public health. Mélenchon also pledged to repeal the Duplomb law on agricultural pesticides and overhaul forest governance. Party coordinator Manuel Bompard stated during the weekend that the strategy aims to establish Mélenchon as the primary environmental candidate in the election.

When we govern, there will be a new forest management policy. The firefighting profession, those in the timber sector, will be revived and made secure.

Parliamentary opposition and economic policy

Looking ahead to the legislative session, Mélenchon confirmed that La France Insoumise will file a motion of censure against the 2027 draft budget prepared by the government of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu. The Insoumis leader argued that proposed spending cuts would harm the national economy and promised to fund state programs through alternative fiscal mechanisms. The party platform proposes reinstating the solidarity wealth tax, levying new taxes on corporate superprofits, increasing minimum wages, and directing the European Central Bank to freeze sovereign public debt held on its balance sheet. Mélenchon defended the debt proposal by citing recent sovereign balance sheet measures implemented in the United States.

Political positioning ahead of 2027

The address marked Mélenchon's fourth run for the presidency following the formal launch of his campaign on 3 May 2026. Mélenchon criticized the ten-year governing record of President Emmanuel Macron and directed sharp remarks at former prime ministers Gabriel Attal and Édouard Philippe, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, and National Rally leader Marine Le Pen. He asserted that the centrist majority and traditional right are converging with the far right in the National Assembly. Citing current voting intention polls that place him ahead of rival candidates on the left and behind only Édouard Philippe, Mélenchon told supporters that his movement is prepared to govern under its manifesto, L'Avenir en commun.