Maud Bérel Climate Policy Officer, Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion (testimonial from the Explore2 project, hydrological projections to adapt water resource management – 2024)
“My mission is to encourage climate change to be taken into account in water and biodiversity policies and to integrate water and biodiversity issues into climate policies, whether for mitigation or adaptation. The Ministry took part in the discussions when Explore2 was set up, because the issue of the impact of climate change on water resources is crucial for water-related policies. The Ministry is therefore participating in co-financing both aspects of the project: scientific, and support for local players in using the results. We also took part in the committee set up to monitor the progress of the work and helped promote and disseminate the results. This committee, which brought together partners and co-funders, issued recommendations and provided a forum for discussion and dissemination of the results. It also enabled us to set up a users’ committee for overseas France.”
Testimonial from our thematic dossier
Thematic dossier
The Explore2 project: hydrological projections to adapt water resource management
The Explore2 project, carried out between 2021 and 2024, aimed to describe the climate and water resources for the whole of the 21st century in mainland France, while ensuring that they are properly used. It produced a set of unprecedented projections in terms of the wealth of models applied and their spatial and temporal resolution, with no equivalent in Europe, thanks to a community of forty or so scientists from different organisations who were mobilised and united around the challenges of climate change. Around a hundred representatives of potential users of Explore2 results have also contributed to the project. Together, and under the guidance of INRAE and IOWater, they have devised useful information that can be mobilised by water managers in their territories. To provide a better understanding of the uncertainties associated with the projections, the scientists have proposed four climate narratives 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. All the results of this project, which will have a major impact on water policy in France, are available online.
