2024-03-14 10:30:51
The government is preparing its adaptation plan to climate change, taking into account the scenario of a 4°C warming in France. While the State is asking transport and energy companies to develop adaptation plans to better anticipate risks, Ademe is publishing a guide to support them.
France is preparing its third national plan for adaptation to climate change which should be presented by the summer. In this perspective, the Ministers of the Economy and Ecological Transition, Bruno Le Maire and Christophe Béchu, asked, at the beginning of February, all large companies essential for the operation of energy and transport systems “an adaptation plan to global warming to ensure that these vital equipment withstand extreme heat, floods, storms and droughts”.
In order to accelerate the adaptation of businesses to climate change, the State will grant them two billion euros in green loans. Because Christophe Béchu assures us: “As actors in our economy, businesses and workers are on the front line of adaptation to climate change. […] Actors in our economy, they must also be actors in our ecology. »
Heat waves, the distribution of rainfall over the year or droughts are all elements which already have an impact on business activity. The adaptation plans must in particular make it possible to identify the vulnerabilities which will threaten the installations in order to prevent and manage physical risks. It is also about developing operations (business continuity, maintenance, work organization, etc.), developing the resilience of supply and distribution chains. These plans should also make it possible to develop technological solutions to improve adaptation.
Rely on feedback
In order to help companies prepare for their adaptation, Ademe is launching, in partnership with the EpE association and the Ministry of Ecological Transition, the guide “ In business, how to embark on a journey of adaptation to climate change? “. Based on feedback from 30 French companies already engaged in this approach, it presents the different steps to follow, from diagnosis to evaluation, illustrated by actions and strategies.
“The first step for companies is the vulnerability diagnosis” explains François Boisleux, climate change adaptation coordinator at the Adaptation, Development and Low Carbon Trajectory (DAAT) Directorate of Ademe. The complete process thus includes the stages of diagnosis, strategy, monitoring and evaluation. The partial journey results from reactions to specific events leading to the implementation of specific actions and their evaluation with a view to short-term optimization. It does not include a strategic perspective and therefore does not represent a final objective in itself.
For example, Ademe shares the adaptation of the Compagnie nationale du Rhône which implements Adaptation Solutions based on Nature (SafN) to prevent the risks of flooding by improving flows. By 2055, according to the different IPCC scenarios, the low flow rate south of the Rhône Valley should decrease by 20%. This shows the need to equitably redistribute water resources across the entire river.
The guide also shares the example of Veolia. The group has set up a dedicated team to build a global adaptation strategy for 2030 and 2050, taking into account the most pessimistic scenario of the IPCC. This strategy will then be implemented on the various sites managed for its clients. A first estimate estimates the financial impacts at several tens of millions of euros for the direct impacts of increasing temperatures by 2030, showing the importance of carrying out this exercise.
To evaluate the adaptation strategy of your company, Ademe offers the ACT Adaptation method. This is based on three dimensions: governance, physical climate risks, capacity and adaptation activities. Ademe summarizes its operation as follows: “Each of these dimensions is evaluated using a battery of indicators. A rating system then makes it possible to position the company within a maturity matrix (ranging from “basic” to “best practice”) and thus identify the gaps remaining to be filled. » In its guide, Ademe shares the results of this method by Séché Environnement, SNCF and Wordline, a French fintech for securing payments and transactions.
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