Climate activists fill golf course holes with cement in France

French climate activists have filled golf course holes with cement in protest against a water ban exemption on greens across the country during a severe drought.

The group, part of the Extinction Rebellion organisation, targeted courses near the city of Toulouse, calling golf the “leisure of the most privileged.”

The month of July 2022 was marked by a record rainfall deficit in France with fewer than four days of rain, which is about three to 10 days fewer than the average, according to Meteo France.

Drought has prompted multiple southern European countries to impose water restrictions, with France activating its crisis unit this month in response to the historic conditions.

The exemption of golf greens from the water ban has sparked controversy as 100 French villages are short of drinking water but golf officials argue that greens would die in three days without water.

“A golf course without a green is like an ice-rink without ice,” Gérard Rougier of the French Golf Federation told the France Info news website. He added that 15,000 people worked in golf courses across the country.

In a petition, the local activists said the exemption showed that “economic madness takes precedence over ecological reason”.

“At a time when the greatest drought ever observed in France since the beginning of meteorological readings is raging, while the drying up of rivers is accelerating in our regions, at a time when 93 departments out of 96 are placed under water use restrictions, resulting in total bans on irrigation for certain market gardeners and for agriculture; a sector concerning a tiny fraction of the population seems to enjoy a privilege worthy of another world in these times of crisis; golf,” the group said in its online petition.

The group said it is calling for the end of exemptions to water restrictions on golf courses.

The water bans are decreed nationally, but enforcement is at the discretion of regional officials. So far only one area, Ille-et-Villaine in western France, has diverged, banning the watering of golf courses.

The Green mayor of the south-eastern city of Grenoble city, Éric Piolle, criticised the exemption saying: “We continue to protect the rich and powerful.”

Some constraints on the golf course remain. Watering must be carried out at night with no more than 30 per cent of the usual volume of water.

Some parts of the Loire river have virtually dried up. Across two-thirds of France, a state of crisis has been declared, with rainfall down by some 85 per cent.