Publications

This study is a contribution to the French public debate. It aims at supporting the acceleration and concretization of climate change adaptation initiatives in this country. The study reviews 11 adaptation challenges such as the strengthening of civil protection, the reshaping of coastal areas or the protection of water resources. For each challenge, the study presents national budgetary decisions ready to make in the next Finance Bill that would complement existing actions and cost elements to feed the required arbitrations yet to be made.  

In order to understand what public financial institutions can do, I4CE and Ramboll have analyzed 5 territorial projects, from the Vosges to the Dordogne, which are trying to meet the challenge of adaptation. Beyond their differences, each of the cases studied shows that adaptation requires, above all, dedicating time and resources to change the way projects are designed and carried out.

In this study, I4CE reviews the characteristics and areas of intervention of public financial institutions, which make them essential actors for adaptation. The study also reviews all of the Public Financial Institutions' business lines to determine their levers for action.

Increasingly frequent heat waves, long droughts, coastal erosion and changing flood risks are all impacts of climate change that will be problematic for the French economy and society. How detrimental this impact will be, will largely depend on what we have anticipated. If we organise ourselves well, we will be able to ensure we make the best decisions for a collective management of risks, development and economic choices, better suited to changing climates. However, regardless of whether we choose to reduce the exposure and vulnerability of populations, facilities and activities upstream or accept an increased share of risk, we must be prepared. 

For local governments, it is when expenditures are debated that it is possible to question them and to channel them towards the climate transition. That’s why I4CE and its partners co-constructed a common and shared methodology to assess a local budget according climate issues.

While France must adapt to the unavoidable consequences of climate disruption, it is necessary to monitor the financial resources that the State devotes to it. However, as the Senate's Foresight Delegation pointed out in 2019, the issue of financing adaptation is characterised by a lack of clarity on the level of needs and the amounts allocated.

It is no easy task to take climate risks – transition risks and physical risks – into account in financial management practices. As this note shows from the example of banking activities, the intrinsic characteristics of these risks – which are long-term and cannot be assigned a probability and for which there are no historical […]

June 2019, the heat wave that affects France and part of Europe takes centre stage. However, we should be less and less surprised by this type of weather event which, with climate change, is becoming more and more common. To see this, take a look at the ClimatHD portal put online by Météo France to disseminate the main climate projections in France.