Guest of franceinfo, François Gémenne, rapporteur for the IPCC, highlights the need to adapt our societies to global warming. A recent report by the Copernicus program explains that in Europe the rise in temperatures is far beyond the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
“It is the whole organization of society that must be rethought” declares François Gémenne, rapporteur for the IPCC and professor at Sciences Po and the University of Liège, guest of franceinfo on Thursday April 20, following the publication by the European Copernicus program of an alarming report. The latter reports an overrun in Europe of temperatures well above the 1.5 degree increase compared to the pre-industrial era, the limit set by the Paris Agreement in 2015.
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Copernicus particularly points out that Europe has experienced twice the average warming since the beginning of the 1990s, which makes it the most affected continent. “We do not have a uniform warming on the surface of the globe, some regions are warming more than others, and unfortunately it fell on Europe”comments François Gémenne.
The last eight years, the hottest on record
“We imagined for a long time that it was going to somehow affect others before it affected us, but we realize that we are going to be hit hard” believes François Gemenne. “There is an urgent need to adapt and anticipate these attacks”. But why Europe? The researcher explains that this situation is due “both because Europe is located on a continent and because the continents are warming faster than the oceans”but also because “Europe is a region where atmospheric circulation causes the temperature to rise faster”.
The Copernicus program recalls that the last eight years have been the hottest on record in the world, with a particularly critical year 2022. “We still sometimes tend to talk about the climate crisis as if it were a difficult but temporary period before a return to normality”says François Gémenne. “But we have to realize that the normal is in front of us and not behind us”. The climate expert would like to point out that temperatures will no longer drop, which is confirmed by the Copernicus report which mentions an increase in temperatures of 0.5 degrees per decade.
Rethinking society in the face of the climate
“There is a whole series of impacts of climate change that will bring about literally irreversible transformations”assures the rapporteur of the IPCC. “That means that we have to learn to govern a new Earth and a climate that will be increasingly unstable. The whole organization of society must be rethought in the light of these impacts”. However, François Gémenne is skeptical, after observing the extreme events of last summer: “It tells us that we are not ready at the moment”.
Although the report is generally very pessimistic, it nevertheless highlights some positive points, such as the increase in solar radiation in Europe, which could allow the development of photovoltaic energy, for example. “Photovoltaic energy is a solution of primary importance, but the difficulty is that there is no magic solution that will solve the problems”, says François Gémenne. We must therefore rely on a panoply of solutions, but good news according to the researcher, “today we have at our disposal all the knowledge and technologies that allow us to limit global warming”. “I think the first awareness of our vulnerability is the first step towards adaptation”concludes the IPCC rapporteur.