Infrastructure at the heart of climate change adaptation policies

The Government is taking stock of adaptation to climate change and its impact on infrastructure:

• Strategic plans of public companies by the end of 2024 (including SNCF, RTE, EDF, etc.).
• Implementation of green loans guaranteed by the State of up to 2 billion euros with BPI as operator.
• Systematic consideration of climate change in administrative action.

These announcements should make it possible to adapt existing infrastructures to climatic hazards, to build new infrastructures to protect territories, to ensure the continuity of public services and the security of goods and people, to integrate adaptation issues into all new infrastructure projects, to preserve and better manage water resources…

The impact of an increase in temperatures of 4 degrees in France would, in fact, have significant consequences on infrastructure in many areas:

• The retreat of the coastline threatens coastal infrastructure, homes and tourist facilities, requiring significant investments for coastal protection.
• Drought causes increased pressure on water resources, endangering water infrastructure and requiring adjustments in the management of reservoirs and supply networks.
• Heat waves require adaptations to urban mobility infrastructures, as well as appropriate maintenance of all road infrastructures.
• Floods and extreme precipitation weaken engineering structures and impact rainwater and sanitation networks, leading to pollution and water cuts.

In 2021, a Carbone 4 study showed that at a minimum the need for investment on the sole issue of infrastructure adaptation is €4,5 billion per year until 2050.

Faced with the challenge of the century that is adaptation to climate change, the FNTP is mobilizing through several strong initiatives:

• DIAGNOSE: the “InfraClimat” platform allows you to visualize climate risks on infrastructure assets
• GUIDE: the low carbon framework brings together a lot of key information for companies and project owners on existing alternatives to traditionally used materials: uses, ecological benefits, availability, prices, etc. This framework will thus make it possible to effectively reduce emissions of the sector.
• TRAIN: a continuing education school dedicated to the ecological transition in Public Works because change will necessarily involve the training of all companies and all employees.

These initiatives will be unveiled on April 4 at the FNTP in the presence of Christophe Béchu, Minister of Ecological Transition.

For Alain Grizaud, President of the FNTP: “Adapting to climate change will require massive investment in our infrastructure and not additional standards. Faced with the emergency, all stakeholders must mobilize massively: elected officials, technical and financial engineering, businesses. This is the call we are launching on April 4. »