Leave. Yes, but to go where? The question is already being asked for a – small – part of the French. According to Obs’COP 2023, the annual barometer of opinion on climate published by EDF, 8% are already certain of having to move within the next ten years due to climate change. And 15% consider it a probability.
“In Charente or in other departments, areas have experienced three or four severe floods in recent times. Imagine what this could look like in several decades if major storms occur once a year. A population shift will be necessary” , said an expert to L’Express, just after the bad weather in November.
Another fear emerges
For now, mayors are instead considering increasing the number of dikes. And the French are more optimistic than their neighbors. In Europe, 18% of respondents plan to change their address in the next decade. A proportion which reaches 23% in North America and 50% in the countries of the southern hemisphere.
But another fear emerges. France is one of the countries that most certainly expects the arrival of climate migrants on their soil (32%), ahead of Italy (25%) and tied with India! It is also one, with Poland, Japan, Germany and Turkey, of the countries most closed to these new arrivals because only 26% of respondents are in favor of it. Welcome or close the doors? The climate risks widening the divides within the population.