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The issue

Recent climate projections indicate an increase in global average temperatures of around +2°C by 2100, under the most optimistic scenario SSP1 1.9, and +6.5 to +7°C, under the most pessimistic scenario SSP5 8.5. Agriculture, forestry and related activities are among the sectors most exposed to climate change. Agriculture is also a sector that contributes to greenhouse gas emissions (17% of French emissions), but which can contribute to mitigation by storing carbon in compartments with a long residence time (soil and woody biomass) and producing renewable energy (substitution effect for fossil fuels).
The agri-food and forestry sector must therefore both adapt to climate change, by anticipating risks and opportunities, and contribute to its mitigation. Until now, much of the work on the evolution of agriculture and forestry has been done by considering adaptation and mitigation issues in a disjointed manner. The Metaprogramme "Agriculture and forestry in the face of climate change: adaptation and mitigation - CLIMAE", launched in 2021 by INRAE, aims to prepare the agri-food and forestry sector by considering these two issues simultaneously. It proposes three lines of research and a prospective reflection.

Goal

The general objective of the Metaprogramme is to produce the interdisciplinary scientific knowledge needed to support the transformation of agri-food and forestry systems with a view to their adaptation to the future climate and their contribution to mitigation.
Two climate scenarios (a pessimistic SSP5-8.5 and an optimistic SSP1-1.9, in CMIP6 terminology) will be selected to serve as a framework for the research conducted. Territories, as a socially appropriate physical space including several types of ecosystems, will be the preferred level of organisation for disaggregating meso-scale climate forcing functions (climate, public policies, etc.), assembling and making coherent adaptation and mitigation strategies, evaluating the proposed scenarios and managing transitions.
The Metaprogramme is expected to identify and support the deployment of effective adaptation and mitigation strategies to address climate change. Upstream, theoretical and methodological advances are expected.

Research axis

Actors

•     Interdisciplinary scientific communities
•     Close links with partners and stakeholders in the socio-economic world.