New oil crisis: is it time to swing the pendulum back?

In 1973, the oil shortage caused by the embargo imposed by producing countries deeply affected the French economy and society. A few years later, in 1976, France chose to move its legal time forward by an additional hour. That made UTC+2, 2 hours ahead of the solar time zone UTC+0.

In 2026, ACHED believes that the opposite move would now be appropriate: a swing back, a return toward the solar time zone (UTC+1 or UTC+0).

At a time when strong tensions are weighing on global energy supplies, the question deserves to be asked: is there still time not to move the clocks forward in less than ten days? The answer is uncertain. However, there is still time to decide now to move clocks back by two hours in the autumn and/or not to move them forward in March 2027.

For ACHED, the discussion should not be limited to the seasonal clock change alone. Even without changing the clocks, making UTC+2 permanent would be a mistake. The desirable objective remains a return to a time zone closer to the sun, preferably combined with ending seasonal clock changes.

According to the association’s analysis, based on scientific research accumulated since the 1980s, advancing the clock tends to increase certain forms of consumption: car travel, heating needs, air-conditioning use, and more broadly energy-intensive activities or those linked to fossil-fuel products.

This approach goes beyond the 2009 ADEME study, which focused mainly on evening lighting savings and still concluded that the gains had already become very small. In ACHED’s view, the induced overconsumption outweighs the modest savings in evening lighting.

There are also health effects: sleep loss, increased fatigue, and disruption of biological rhythms, with real human, social, and economic consequences.

Spring is approaching, the days are getting longer, with or without clock changes, and the association welcomes that. But in a troubling humanitarian, environmental, climate, and energy context, coherent and responsible decisions are needed. Among them, the question of legal time deserves to be addressed diligently and without delay.

About ACHED

The Association Citoyenne Heure Équitable et Durable has been working since 1983 for a legal time more consistent with human rhythms, public health, and environmental concerns.

Support ACHED

• Donate via HelloAsso
• Join the association
• Sign the petitions