Record temperature in France, suffering forests, insufficient resources… What to remember from the annual report of the High Council for the Climate

“It is high time to act urgently and to commit the means.” The High Council for the Climate (HCC) published, Wednesday, June 28, its fifth annual report. This highly anticipated 200-page document assesses the measures implemented by the French government to combat global warming. As the year 2022 is “emblematic of the intensifying effects of climate change”the members of this independent body stress, once again, the need to “structural changes” Who “not progressing at the expected pace”. Franceinfo summarizes what you need to remember from this report.

Alarming figures that illustrate the consequences of global warming

The document takes stock of the year 2022, starting with the unprecedented consequences suffered by the country on the climate front. The report cites a number of alarming figures:

– a record temperature of +2.9°C compared to the period 1900-1930

– a rainfall deficit of 25% compared to the period 1991-2020

– a drop in agricultural yields ranging from 10 to 30% depending on the sector

– difficulties in supplying drinking water in more than 2,000 municipalities

– a cost of drought on buildings estimated at 2.9 billion euros for insurance

– 75,000 hectares of forest burned

– 2,816 more deaths due to heat waves

And these consequences on society and ecosystems are set to intensify. “The record temperature of the year 2022 corresponds to the average temperature in France by 2050-2060 for a level of global warming which would reach 2°C”can we read in the report. “France is not ready to face it, as the year 2022 has demonstrated”alerted the climatologist and president of the High Council for the Climate, Corinne Le Quéré, during a press conference. “Adaptation is done in a reactive mode, it is not sustainable. It must become transformative.”

Domestic emissions are down, but at too slow a pace

A positive sign: the drop in greenhouse gas emissions, responsible for climate change, continues in France. They decreased by 2.7% in 2022 compared to 2021, to reach 403.8 Mt eqCO2. The construction and industry sectors have largely contributed to this (see our infographic below)unlike transport and energy, which emitted more.

The HCC explains this trend by the mildness observed this fall and winter, which reduced heating needs, as well as by the “sobriety measures in response to rising energy prices and the government’s sobriety plan”. France is thus one of the 18 countries cited in the report which “have seen their emissions decline for a decade or more”.

However, the rate of decline is still “insufficient” and should “almost double” to achieve the 2030 goals, deplores the HCC. Moreover, if France has respected in 2022 the commitments it has set itself in terms of gross emissions (defined in the National Low-Carbon Strategy), this is no longer the case when we take into account the too low absorption of these same emissions by carbon sinks.

French forests have a lower capacity to absorb carbon

The report warns in particular about the reduction in the potential of carbon sinks, those ecosystems which absorb the CO2 present in the atmosphere. “The amount of carbon stored by French carbon sinks has decreased (-21%) in 2021”says the report. Data for last year is not yet available, but the HCC warns that “the spring drought in 2022 and the summer fires will have contributed to the deterioration of the carbon stocks of the forests over the last year”.

“Mortality in forests has increased by 50% in the last decade. Large-scale action is needed to regenerate forests and increase absorption in agricultural soils, in order to be able to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.”

Jean-François Soussana, member of the HCC

at a press conference

Many blockages are hampering the fight against global warming

“There are blockages in all sectors”, points to Corinne Le Quéré. The report highlights the persistence of tax loopholes that amount to subsidizing fossil fuels. “Rate Shield funding currently sends the opposite signal to the fight against climate change”, illustrates the president of the HCC. The report identifies 80 billion euros of climate-unfriendly public spending over the period 2021-2023, including 43 billion planned for this year.

“What we are asking for is a timetable for reducing these tax loopholes. Today, they must be reassessed, to align all of this with climate objectives.”

Benoît Leguet, member of the HCC

at a press conference

In addition, the HCC highlights the brakes that prevent several sectors from keeping up. In the transports, “Ihe consumption of thermal vehicles is increasing due to the increase in the weight of cars” And “the electrification of light commercial vehicles and heavy goods vehicles is being rolled out too slowly”. In the building, energy consumption “decreases too slowly”. And in the energy sector, “the increase in the production of electrical renewable energies is three times too slow”.

Political action is progressing, but not enough

“An overall approach is being built, with many strategic documents covering most sectors”welcomes the HCC in its 2023 report. It approves in particular the establishment of the General Secretariat for Ecological Planning, which helps to trace the arbitrations to Matignon. “A lot has happened in 2022. We can say that we have gone beyond the policy of small steps, but we are not yet on the run”moderates Corinne Le Quéré.

The report questions the “consistency” And “alignment” policies with climate objectives. For the HCC, there is also a lack of mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating measures. The document emphasizes above all the absence “a major economic policy to respond to the height of the challenges”, laments Corinne Le Quéré. According to the HCC, the financial means are insufficient.

“The annual public expenditure needed for the transition must increase rapidly to reach around an additional 30 billion in 2030.”

The High Council for the Climate

in its 2023 report

To improve government action, the HCC is developing a whole series of recommendations. According to him, it is necessary to strengthen adaptation and take more account of its cost, better control the effectiveness of measures, review the taxation of fossil fuels or even integrate France’s international commitments into legal texts.

The body also focuses on each sector, recommending, for example, to strengthen aid for changing vehicles, to accelerate the deployment of rail, to better support farmers or industrialists in their transition, to intensify the renovation of buildings or consolidate the energy sobriety measures taken in 2022. To do this, the government has “unmissable opportunities”, according to the HCC, such as the future French Energy and Climate Strategy. Its legislative translation is expected in the coming weeks.