Global warming: "We need to reshape our way of thinking to adapt" (S. Pen Point, Cerema)

"We need to reshape our way of thinking to adapt; we need to reconnect with ancient and vernacular knowledge; we need to understand how solutions can be locally rooted; and we need to integrate climate change constraints in our adaptation narratives", said Sakina Pen Point, Cerema's project director for "Adapting buildings to climate change", at the 5^th edition of the Université de la Ville de Demain, organised by the Palladio Foundation, in Versailles (France), on 13/06/2025.

"The artificialisation of land increases the risk of flooding: impermeable soils can no longer absorb rainwater, which encourages run-off. Clay shrink-swell affects 50% of the country and threatens almost 10 million houses. By 2050, the cost of drought-related claims could rise by €40 billion, and one French person in seven will live in an area that experiences more than 20 abnormally hot days each summer," adds Sakina Pen Point.

She looks at the main consequences of global warming: heatwaves, droughts, intense rainfall, rising sea levels.... In cities, heat waves are exacerbated by the phenomenon of urban…