France must “get out of denial” and prepare for global warming on its territory of up to 4 degrees Celsius, French Ecological Transition Minister Christophe Béchu warned on Friday.
“So much the better that we do not reach 4 degrees, but not preparing for it means that we expose our fellow citizens, our farmers and our economic activities to risks without giving them the means to deal with it,” he told radio station Europe 1.
The minister is working on the third French national plan for adaptation to climate change (PNACC3), which is due to be finalized by the end of 2023.
The future French strategy will be based on two scenarios, the most pessimistic of which will lead to a temperature increase of 4 degrees in France compared to the end of the nineteenth century. That increase would be higher than the global average.
“If we want to adapt to this, we have to get out of the denial phase,” said Béchu. “We have to invest in materials that allow us to withstand those temperatures, which means we have to think about things like the organization of public services, water laws, protection of biodiversity, soil and insurance regulations.”
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