News
7 July 2023
The French High Council for the Climate castigates France’s inaction in the context of climate change
In its Annual Report for 2023, the French High Council for the Climate stresses the urgent need to mobilize resources and implement resolute actions to deal with the ongoing climate crisis.
In France like elsewhere in the world, 2022 was characterized by an acceleration of climate change: record heat (+2.9 °C compared to the 1900-1930 period according to Météo-France data) and drought (25% rainfall deficit compared to the 1991-2020 period). This situation promises an accelerated warming of the climate in France
(Fig.1).
Fig. 1 Annual average temperature anomaly
observed in mainland France
Source: Haut conseil pour le climat, 2023 (translated by hungerexplained.org)
The unprecedented meteorological conditions in 2022 had dramatic consequences: reduction of agricultural production by 10 to 30% in some sub-sectors, fall by 20% of hydropower production, poor groundwater recharge, diminishing level of reproduction of some birds and amphibians, tensions in drinking water supply, damage to buildings, fires and lower productivity of forests (and weaker carbon sink function), deaths due to heat waves, etc.
Despite all these facts, GHG emissions in France only dropped modestly (-2.7% compared to 2021) and at a rate half of what is required to achieve 2030 objectives, notes the High Council. This modest reduction is a source of concern as it is largely the result of a mild winter and a fall of activity in some sectors (construction and industry, in particular).
The High Council stresses the fragmented by sector nature of the strategies implemented by the state, and the absence of a true economic policy and sufficient resources to be in a position to trigger transformations needed to cope with the challenge of climate change.
To this observation, it must be added that nothing is really being done to encourage a mobilization of the population to act, not only in the field of production, but also in that of consumption, so as to bring about required modifications in all aspects of life in order to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change.
Hungerexplained.org already put forward proposals for this, in particular by making everyone responsible according to their means through a GHG emission account per household [read].
Regarding adaptation to climate change, one may regret that France does not have consistent policies. Two examples illustrated this weakness. The first has to do with the encouragements given to the development of irrigation (for instance by multiplying water storage facilities) when it is known that water availability will diminish in the future - instead of inducing farmers to abandon crops that are not well adapted to the climate (such as the emblematic maize) and replace them by more appropriate species. The second is related to the project of multiplication of nuclear plants that will require, to cool them, greater quantities of water drawn from rivers, when it is clear that the river water regimes will become more variable - not to mention the consequences of the warming of the water on the fauna and flora of these streams.
In short, France is far from being on a path that would allow it to simultaneously reduce its GHG emissions and their impact on global climate change, and adapt to the major changes in climate which seem increasingly unavoidable.
Will the French government be up to this challenge? One may seriously doubt it!
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To know more:
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•Haut conseil pour le climat, Acter l’urgence - Engager les moyens, Rapport annuel 2023, 2023 (in French).
Selection of past articles on hungerexplained.org related to the topic:
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•Thinking outside the box: A solution to cut GHG emissions while reducing inequalities - Changing paradigm: Thinking global crises and their solutions ‘outside the box’, 2022.
Last update: July 2023
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