French departments each have particular features from the viewpoint of sustainable development. For example, metropolitan areas are places that generate wealth but they also represent risk factors for the environment and there is a risk of exclusion for certain population categories.

Health and well-being issues are dependent on factors such as a coordinated health services network and the conservation of natural resources. The eutrophication and aquatic disturbance or imbalance found in most departments are damaging to the quality of ecosystems. Biodiversity protection remains a challenge as long as artificialisation persists in France.

However, the conversion to organic farming is continuing to progress, with France investing heavily in cleaning up its bodies of water, and virtuous behaviour tending to bring down CO₂ emissions (registration of new cars that are less polluting and growth in renewable energy).

Reducing inequality is another key sustainable development issue. Poverty affects French overseas departments and other departments in metropolitan France. In some of them, there is a high level of overcrowding of housing. The gender pay gap constitutes a factor in inequality and is particularly marked in industrial areas and in those with the most managers. Moreover, in many regions, education and training-related difficulties mount up, with the potential also to become obstacles to gaining employment.