The association Notre Affaire à tous warns about the exposure of prisons to climate change

The risks have been assessed for all 188 penitentiary establishments in France, both mainland and overseas. All are affected by “the risk of heatwave”.

Heatwaves, deterioration of buildings and even the risk of submersion… French prisons are particularly vulnerable to climate change, denounces Notre Affaire à tous, in a report published on Thursday July 11. “Climate change is redrawing a map of prisons based on their exposure to climate risks, which should alert us”warns the association. Notre Affaire à tous, which draws up its findings on the basis of public data, estimates that“none of the 188 French prisons are immune to climate and environmental risks”.

For now, this problem “is not the subject of any public policy and does not appear to be taken into account in prison construction and renovation programmes”, deplores the association Our Business for All, which “uses the law as a strategic lever to combat the environmental crisis”. “It is not a concept, it affects people in their flesh”insisted the association’s general delegate at a press conference, stressing that 100% of prisons “are affected by the risk of heatwave”.

“The exercise yards are often unsuitable during periods of extreme heat because they are entirely concreted, without trees, and sometimes even without an awning or shelter to provide shelter.”note the authors of the report, emphasizing that “Prison overcrowding makes a heat wave even more unbearable.”

Another risk linked to climate change is the phenomenon of clay shrinkage and swelling, which can damage buildings. More than half of French prisons are exposed to this risk. “medium or strong” on this level, which can lead to cracks in the walls, non-sealing windows, burst pipes, and therefore weigh on the living conditions of prisoners, insists the NGO. More than a quarter of prisons are also exposed to a risk “moderate to significant” flood, 12% may be affected by forest fire.

Eight establishments are affected by the risk of rising water levels or marine submersion, three of which – all overseas, in New Caledonia, Guyana and Wallis – risk finding themselves “below sea level due to climate change”In response, the association calls on the public authorities to “vegetalize” current buildings, despite security constraints and “to avoid the establishment of new prisons in areas likely to be flooded by 2100”.

Since the 19th century, the average temperature of the Earth has warmed by 1.1°C. Scientists have established with certainty that this increase is due to human activities, consumers of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas). This warming, unprecedented in its speed, threatens the future of our societies and biodiversity. But solutions – renewable energies, moderation, reduction of meat consumption – exist. Discover our answers to your questions on the climate crisis.