With the consequences of global warming becoming more and more noticeable, governments now find themselves facing a double challenge: mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to slow down the scale of climate change, but also preparing societies for current impacts and future damage. The annual report of the Court of Auditors, which must be published on Tuesday March 12, is almost entirely devoted to this second point, that of adaptation to change. A crucial yet long neglected aspect of ecological policies.
Throughout the 725 pages of the report, the magistrates of rue Cambon decipher the delays of the State, communities and companies in this area. “Awareness of the urgency of adaptation is very real, but it varies depending on the sector”estimates Pierre Moscovoci, first president of the Court of Auditors, who describes a challenge “colossal” and pushes political leaders to act. “The State does not correctly play its role as a strategist, which consists of setting clear objectives and defining a trajectory to achieve them”he still judges.
While Europe has been hit hard by the climate crisis for two years, with heatwaves and droughts occurring at a rapid pace, France is not at the level of the challenge, according to the magistrates. Throughout the sixteen thematic chapters – cities, transport networks, forests, the army, the coastline, health, banks and finance, etc. –, the absences and silences of the State are dissected.
On a major subject like real estate, the first National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change (PNACC, 2011-2015) has not “not received any concrete translation other than research support”. The second PNACC (2018-2022) simply disseminated measures on this subject in “transversal sections”. “The problem of adapting to change (…) requires first of all that political choices be made, in all areas of public action”, we can read in the report. A burst of pressure as Christophe Béchu, Minister of Ecological Transition, must put the third PNACC out for consultation ” in April “, before a presentation “in the summer”. The latter greeted the “relevant proposals” of the report and promised that they “will be able to inform decisions on the most relevant financing options for adaptation”.
Carry out real “planning”
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