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Climate change will significantly affect the French coast, disrupt some ecosystems and aggravate the natural risks of erosion and coastal flooding, a report from the think-tank Ecological Factory published on Monday. In addition, towns and villages on the coast are poorly prepared for these risks.
Coastal floods in France are already threatening 1.4 million inhabitants, 850,000 jobs and 590,000 hectares of land. Erosion affects a quarter of France's mainland coast.
By 2040, coastal areas are expected to accommodate 4.5 million additional inhabitants (an increase of 19% over 2007) and about 40% of the French population will live on the coast.
These natural hazards are magnified by climate change. A report released last May by a UN climate scientist warned that sea level could rise by 2 m by 2100 and by at least 1 m from sea level. here the end of the century.
"Our country has a major challenge," says Géraud Guibert, head of the think tank La Fabrique Ecologique, author of the report. "The most endangered areas are on the Atlantic coast and in the north, and they are very urbanized."
The report points out that key coping strategies "remain deeply unsatisfactory," said Ronan Dantec, a Green Party Senator, EELV, last May.
"France today is not prepared for rising water levels or at least not enough prepared," Dantec told Franceinfo. "Some regions are asking questions and starting to get ready, but so far there has not been much momentum on the part of the state."
Dams, groynes, coatings, dikes
20% of the French coast, that is to say about 2,300 km, benefit from a form of protection against coastal floods and erosion, thanks to traditional constructions in hard materials, such as only dikes, groynes and dikes.
But they are expensive to install and local authorities who, since 2018, are responsible for the payment of their maintenance "do not have the necessary technical and financial means," says the report.
Some are turning to less expensive and more sustainable solutions such as planting on dunes or rock faces.
"You can not just build dams along the coast, you have to find solutions in nature," says Guibert, "but in France, there is little thought and few decisions about it."
That said, the Conservatoire du littoral launched the Adapto project in 2015 with the aim of experimenting with the withdrawal of the polders from 10 sites which would then be returned to the sea.
"The problem is that it can be hard to convince officials and locals that you have to give in to nature," says Guibert, "this can be considered a defeat."
Learn from Xynthia
Better control of urban planning is clearly one of the ways to reduce risks, while France has learned at its peril that in 2010, storm Xynthia hit the Atlantic coast, killing 47 people.
France has since introduced planning restrictions that limit construction in some high-risk areas and prohibit it in others. "The problem is that so far, only 60% of the territory has these preventive measures," regrets Mr. Guibert.
And even when such plans are in place, they often face opposition from local officials and residents who, fearing a threat to economic development or loss of property values, file lawsuits.
In fact, Guibert says their fears are not always true.
"Our report shows that property in areas along the coast where it is vulnerable does not lose value."
Top of the sticks and far
In high-risk areas, the only climate-proof solution is to move people away from the coast.
In 2012, France became one of the first countries to implement a national resettlement strategy in high-risk areas. Five pilot areas were selected.
Lacanau, near Bordeaux, "one of the cities most affected by erosion," according to the report, has an economy based on tourism. The initial local opposition to the plan was mitigated through strong community involvement.
But in Ault, in the north of France – a high-risk area located less than 70 meters from the edge of the cliff – plans to force the displacement of 240 landowners, if their properties have been damaged by floods or floods. erosion, has aroused strong local opposition. In the spring of 2018, residents won their lawsuit, which found the plan illegal.
"Relocation is expensive and, of course, it's not popular because people are attached to their homes," says Guibert, "and they are not fully aware of the seriousness of the problem."
The question of who pays the bill is currently the main stumbling block.
"We have to find some kind of financial solidarity mechanism," allowing us to buy these buildings so people can move in. "
A bill planned for 2020
The government is currently preparing a parliamentary mission on how to adapt coastal zones in the light of climate change. Its conclusions, expected in October, will form the basis of a draft law that will be submitted to Parliament in 2020.
"We will not make a large-scale move, but in some places the officials are ready [for change]"Said Le Monde Stéphane Buchou, MP for the ruling LRM, Vendée, on the Atlantic coast. "We need legal and financial tools."
"Offshoring can only be done where the stakes are not huge, that is, outside the big cities," said geographer Catherine Meur-Férec.
"But even in the less populated areas, the authorities will not be able to pay to buy a property facing the sea as long as it will be expensive. The fact that the state dissects coastal floods from erosion hampers coherent, sustainable and equitable coastal management. "
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