As the Adaptation Futures 2023 conference recently ended at the Palais des congrès de Montréal, a unanimous conclusion emerged: we must accelerate adaptation to climate change, here and now. The world is not on a trajectory to meet the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement. This is the brutal, but lucid, conclusion of the recent assessment published under the aegis of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Even though the Paris Agreement had set, when it was adopted in 2015, the ambitious goal of keeping the increase in global temperature below 1.5°C, the year 2023 is already getting dangerously close. of this threshold. In fact, from January to September, the global average temperature was 1.40°C above the pre-industrial average.
These data confront us with an implacable reality. Despite the efforts made by our governments to fight climate change and reduce our emissions, temperatures continue to rise and extreme weather events are increasing.
Climate change creates titanic challenges to which citizens and cities must inevitably adapt. It is imperative to face this reality realistically by accelerating research and investing in solutions that will allow us to be better prepared. Now is not the time for denial, but for adaptation.
The AdapT institute, set up by the École de Technologie Supérieure, is already in action to develop solutions to the problems raised to adapt our homes, our cities and our infrastructures. Adapting our built environment is essential to our resilience to climate change, and to do this, we must change our ways of doing things and our lifestyles.
This must become a social project. Collaboration between researchers, engineers, urban planners, entrepreneurs and political leaders is a necessity. It is together that we can build a future that meets the challenges that Mother Nature imposes on us. The safety and resilience of our communities are at stake.
The new climate reality forces us to completely rethink our ways of doing things and building. To protect our buildings from major floods, which are becoming more and more frequent, we are working to perfect our climate models, we are rethinking the configuration of our hydraulic infrastructures and we are applying new construction approaches and innovative materials that are eco-responsible. These are just a few examples that will help us improve our resilience.
By combining new technologies and scientific advances with adequate urban planning and appropriate risk management, it will be possible to effectively adapt our infrastructure against weather disasters. Climate change impacts our environment, our health, biodiversity, our agricultural capacity and our economy. The cost of managing these effects is high and growing. The fight against climate change must go hand in hand with climate adaptation.
Our governments are essential partners, and it is absolutely crucial to accelerate the pace and invest in innovative and sustainable adaptation solutions; otherwise, we would be condemned to bear much higher consequences and costs.