A “lucid” observation. In an opinion issued this Thursday, May 4, the members of the National Council for Ecological Transition called for France to prepare for global warming of up to 4°C in mainland France. An opinion that follows the conclusions posted by the government for several months.
The National Council for Ecological Transition (CNTE) – which brings together representatives of local authorities, NGOs, trade unions, employers and parliamentarians – “proposes to retain, for the trajectory of adaptation to climate change, the general hypothesis of global warming of 3°C by the end of the century, crossing 1.5°C in 2030 and 2°C in 2050”.
“We are on a trajectory towards 3°C at the global level and therefore for metropolitan France, that means 4°C”, specified the environmentalist senator and vice-president of the specialized commission of the CNTE Ronan Dantec, stressing that the The opinion had been adopted “unanimously”. “It says a consensus today of French society in its awareness that we must face the reality of this climate change, and in a lucid way,” he added, presenting the opinion to journalists.
The warming is indeed more marked in metropolitan France compared to the world average. The situation will also vary overseas depending on the geographical location of the territories, underlined the elected official: “Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon will go beyond 4°C and other territories with the inertia of the ocean will be closer to 3°C, which is the global average. »
The opinion follows the recommendations of the Minister of Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu, who has been calling for a few months to get out of “denial” and to prepare France for a possible warming of 4°C. “Not that that means we’re giving up on climate ambitions. We must act as if everything depends on us but we must adapt by measuring that everything does not depend on us, ”he judged Thursday.
Policies currently in place around the world predict a global temperature rise of 2.8°C by the end of the century, the UN predicted last October. The implementation of the current commitments made by the various States to reduce their emissions will only reduce this increase to a 2.4-2.6°C increase by this horizon. The world is therefore a long way from the goal of the Paris Agreement, which is to limit global warming to well below 2°C and preferably to 1.5°C.
France is preparing its third national plan for adaptation to climate change. The previous version (2018-2022) was based on less pessimistic assumptions of an average temperature increase of 2°C compared to the pre-industrial era. This adaptation plan will have components concerning health, the economy and agriculture, the continuity of infrastructure and essential services, and the protection of natural environments.
The minister also clarified that he would present a “national heat wave management plan” before the end of May, with dozens of measures to, for example, provide a framework for outdoor working conditions or school exams. in the event of a heat wave.
