Climate change mitigation - Why care? (France)

Combating climate change is a major global issue. France, which has seen an average increase of 0.9°C throughout the twentieth century, is not immune to global warming.

This phenomenon could significantly affect our way of life and our economies, all the more so since it is happening so quickly. In particular, changes in the water cycle (quantities, frequencies, etc.) could have an impact on agricultural or industrial production, and may also cause changes to ecosystems. This in turn may result in the disappearance of ecosystem services. On the other hand, climate change may lead to the development of new economic activities. Controlling the change and mitigating its negative consequences will therefore be an issue in the future. Adaptation to climate change can be defined as ‘adjusting natural or human systems in response to present or future climatic stimuli or their effects, to mitigate the harmful effects or exploit beneficial opportunities’. Envisaged as a complementary policy to mitigation, it should allow the cost of the impacts of climate change to be significantly limited, and even enable them to be transformed into opportunities in some cases.