Funded by the French Office for Biodiversity and the French Ministry for Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion, the Explore2 project aimed to describe the climate and water resources for the whole of the 21st century in mainland France, while ensuring their proper use.

It produced a set of unprecedented predictions in terms of the wealth of models applied and their spatial and temporal resolution, with no equivalent in Europe, thanks to a community of around forty scientists from different organisations who were mobilised and united around the challenges of climate change. One hundred or so representatives for potential users of Explore2 results also contributed to the project. Together, and under the guidance of INRAE and IOWater, they devised useful information that can be used by water managers in their areas. For a better understanding of the uncertainties associated with the predictions, the scientists suggested four climate scenarios that illustrate the diversity of possible futures. Following the example of the IPCC, they have also drawn up a summary of the main conclusions at the level of mainland France for a set of descriptive variables in the water cycle, while specifying the degree of confidence in these results and the limits of knowledge.