In France, the Court of Auditors is concerned about state finances in its new report published Tuesday March 12. Responsible for controlling state spending, the body believes that France must “ do more for climate adaptation “. In the first time that this theme is addressed in a specific report, the court considers that “ answers » current state “shave not articulated “.
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The Court of Auditors welcomes “ awareness » of the urgency to adapt, but underlines the road that remains to be covered. “ The message from the Court is that it more needs to be done for climate adaptation », declared the first president of the institution Pierre Moscovici, presenting his annual report to the press. “ We see a kaleidoscope of responses, of greater or lesser quality », noted the former European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs. But they are not articulated, hence the imperative to plan “.
The Court of Auditors above all calls on the State to play more clearly “ his role as a strategist » to better plan and coordinate adaptation. This role ” consists in setting objectives and defining a trajectory to achieve them », regret the magistrates.
An example: municipalities have adopted adaptation strategies but their “ abundance » needs to be better articulated at the national level.
The Court calls on the authorities in particular to “ to correct » planning inadequacies, such as inconsistencies on the adaptation of real estate or mountain tourism: the policies put in place have been focused more on reducing emissions than on adaptation
This is the first time that this theme of adaptation has been the subject of a specific report from the Court, with nearly 700 pages devoted to it, a sign of the importance it has taken on. Adaptation has long been overshadowed by the efforts needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
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“ The State cannot do everything », replies the government
The Minister of Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu reacted on Tuesday by judging that the report’s proposals would make it possible to “ shed light on decisions on the most relevant financing options for adaptation “.
But ” the state cannot do everything ” has added the minister in a column in the newspaper Release. “ Adaptation concerns our lifestyles, our daily lives, our vacations and our work, our way of building and eating. (…) It is therefore also a democratic challenge “, he declared, announcing the launch “ in a few days » of a public consultation on the French adaptation strategy.
The Court, however, encourages collecting more data and establishing better risk projections. The wise men of rue Cambon regret “ the absence of exhaustive and consistent figures for all public stakeholders “.
She is also concerned, for example, that the European railway standards on which the SNCF is based do not take climate change into account. A boost, the court also calls for in adaptation to coastal erosion “ to escape from the logic of experimentation “.
A report that arrives “ at a crucial moment »
The energy sector does not fare so badly in the assessment, having taken into account the impact of global warming. The Court still requires additional investments to adapt nuclear power plants, dams and the electricity distribution network.
Furthermore, the army is being slapped on the wrist: the court is asking it to make more efforts to decarbonize, even if it recognizes that its missions justify the granting of exemptions.
The Oxfam association welcomed a report which arrives “ at a crucial moment “. The aid funds proposed by the Court constitute “ interesting tracks » but should « be supported by those responsible for the climate crisis », Estimates the NGO.
Problem: the situation of public finances is “ worrying ”, or even “ serious », warns the Court, which devotes part of its report to it. But even in this delicate context, Pierre Moscovici defends spending in favor of the environment: “ It would be paradoxical to go and focus on the sector in which we need the most investment “.
The time is moreover to budgetary savings. The deficit will exceed 5% of GDP in 2024, the government recognized, while the European Union recommends imperatively remaining below 3%, pushing the government to announce 10 billion euros in cuts in 2024, then 20 billion in 2025. The Court also calls for clear costing of the adaptation measures, which are necessarily expensive.
The Court of Auditors criticizes the government over its financial forecasts, lacking an “intelligent and subtle approach”
The situation is “ worrying ”, or even “ serious »: the Court of Auditors criticizes the government for its management of public finances, in its annual report published Tuesday March 12. The authority criticizes him for an initial scenario “ unlikely » for 2024 and a trajectory « unambitious and fragile » on the public deficit.
The French Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire announced last month 10 billion euros in additional savings for this year, on ecology, work, research and solidarity: this will not be enough, says the Court of Auditors.
In front of journalists, he affirmed that the magistrates of the Court were “not not austere people who want to cut everything “, but that it was necessary to have ” an intelligent and subtle approach to public spending “.
The growth objective for 2024, even revised downwards by the government, is still too optimistic, tackles the report published Tuesday March 12. France should grow not by 1% as the executive anticipates, but by only 0.7%: this will reduce state revenue and therefore widen the public deficit.
France’s trajectory is less good than that of its European neighbors, estimates the court, and the government’s objective of falling below 3% by 2027 seems very difficult to achieve. To achieve this, we would need to make another 50 billion euros in savings by 2027, an unprecedented effort according to the report.
All this while the energy transition and adaptation to climate change will require enormous expenditure, at least several tens of billions of euros per year.
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