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France 2026

France

France enters 2027 having cut its territorial emissions to 369 Mt CO₂e in 2024, 32% below 1990, but at a pace the High Council for the Climate judges too slow for the 2030 target of 270 Mt. Its electricity is about 95% low-carbon and the country exported a record volume of power in 2024, yet the same nuclear fleet showed its exposure in 2022, when corrosion repairs and heat-limited cooling cut output to its lowest level since 1988.

Okutholiwe
12
each with its status and source
Sectors with findings
5 of 6
Infrastructure not assessed
Risk objects
4
order carries no rank
Imithombo
40
Evidence close 30 September 2026

01 · Readings

France in six readings.

Six readings that frame the baseline, and the eight questions this edition answers, each with its status and source.

  • 68.6millionpopulation, 1 January 2025 [6]
  • 369Mt CO₂eemissions, 2024 [1]
  • ≈95%low-carbon electricity, 2024 [7]
  • ≈18%of EU agricultural output [23]
  • 9.4t CO₂ecarbon footprint per person, 2023 [3]
  • 17.1millionresidents exposed to river flooding [22]

02 · Sectors

Six sectors, one hexagon.

Water first, then Energy, Infrastructure, Food, Health and Biodiversity. Each count is the findings of this edition in that sector: coverage of the evidence, never a score. Infrastructure is not assessed: the edition holds no Infrastructure finding and its coupling matrix does not assess it.

  1. WATAmanzi1 finding

    ≈58% Share of freshwater consumed by agriculture, recent. Reported

    Low summer flows shared by irrigation, cooling and drinking water; 17.1 million residents exposed to river flooding.

  2. ENEAmandla2 findings

    ≈95% Low-carbon share of electricity, 2024. Reported

    About 95% low-carbon electricity; nuclear output exposed to heat and low flows.

  3. INFIngqalasizindanot assessed

    Rail, roads and networks exposed to heat, floods and clay movement.

  4. FOOUkudla1 finding

    ≈18% Share of EU agricultural output, 2024. Reported

    The EU’s largest agricultural producer; harvests cut in hot, dry years.

  5. HLTImpilo1 finding

    3,700+ deaths Heat-attributable deaths, summer, 2024. Reported

    More than 3,700 heat deaths in summer 2024; older people most exposed.

  6. BIOUkuhlukahluka kwemvelo1 finding

    ≈−30% Change in farmland bird populations, 1989–2023. Reported

    Farmland birds down about 30% since 1989; wildfire reaching new regions.

Outside the six sectors: Climate forcing 3, Finance 2, Systemic 1.

03 · Hazard exposure

The hazards this edition reads.

The edition’s own risk objects, in its order, each read across driver, exposure, vulnerability, capacity, cascade and horizon. The hexagon marks the sectors the cascade reaches; the domain beside each is an editorial reading of its hazard words.

  • RSK-FRA-CLI-001

    Extreme heat

    ReportedEQL 4

    Driver
    heatwaves above 40 °C; tropical nights
    Exposure
    people aged 75 and over; dense cities
    Vulnerability
    isolation; housing without cooling
    Capacity
    heat-health alerts; national heatwave plan
    Cascade
    CLI → HLT · CLI → ENE cooling demand
    Horizon
    seasonal

    Umkhathi nesimo sezulu

  • RSK-FRA-WAT-002

    Drought and low river flows

    ReportedEQL 4

    Driver
    dry winters; hot summers
    Exposure
    nuclear cooling, irrigation, drinking water
    Vulnerability
    three uses sharing the same low flows
    Capacity
    water restrictions; Plan Eau [11]
    Cascade
    WAT → ENE, FOO, HLT
    Horizon
    seasonal · 5 years

    Water systems

  • RSK-FRA-FIN-003

    Clay shrink-swell subsidence

    ReportedEQL 3

    Driver
    repeated droughts drying clay soils
    Exposure
    10.4 million detached houses [21]
    Vulnerability
    shallow foundations
    Capacity
    CatNat cover [15]; building standards
    Cascade
    CLI → WAT → FIN → households
    Horizon
    1–10 years

    Water systems

  • RSK-FRA-CLI-004

    River and Mediterranean flash flooding

    ReportedEQL 4

    Driver
    intense autumn storms; river floods
    Exposure
    17.1 million residents [22]
    Vulnerability
    building in flood-prone areas
    Capacity
    flood forecasting; risk-prevention plans
    Cascade
    CLI → INF, HLT, FIN
    Horizon
    annual

    Water systemsUmkhathi nesimo sezulu

Scenario · SCN-FRA-HDN-01

Hot, dry summer with low river flows

Under this scenario, results describe a conditional season under stated assumptions. It is not a forecast, and no intervention described here has been carried out.

3 of 12 findings name a hazard in their text. Show them

  1. 1CLI → WATlow rainfall and heat cut river flows
  2. 2WAT → ENEreactors cut output to respect discharge-temperature limits
  3. 3CLI → HLTheat deaths among older people rise
  4. 4WAT → FOOirrigation restrictions and heat cut harvests
  5. 5CLI → BIOwildfires in the south-west and beyond
  6. 6WAT → FINclay subsidence claims rise under CatNat

04 · Couplings

How the sectors carry risk into each other.

The France matrix types the twenty couplings between the five core ezinqamula. Strengths are Nexus estimates from the cited evidence and analogue events; they set the starting graph that the Q1 2027 Foundry cut will test.

Coupling matrix, from row to column
FromWATENEFOOHLTBIO
WAT·StrongStrongModerateStrong
ENEModerate·StrongStrongModerate
FOOModerateWeak·StrongStrong
HLTWeakWeakModerate·Weak
BIOStrongModerateStrongModerate·

Water: 4 couplings out, 4 in; Energy: 4 couplings out, 4 in; Food: 4 couplings out, 4 in; Health: 4 couplings out, 4 in; Biodiversity: 4 couplings out, 4 in. Infrastructure is not in the coupling matrix: none of the edition matrices types it, so it carries no value.

Cascade paths, in the edition’s order

  1. CLI → WAT → ENEheat and low flows force nuclear output cutsReported
  2. CLI → HLTheatwaves raise deaths among older peopleReported
  3. CLI → WAT → FINdrought shrinks clay soils, cracks houses and raises CatNat claimsReported
  4. WAT → FOOdrought and irrigation limits cut harvestsInferred
  5. CLI → BIOwildfire spreads to regions once sparedReported

05 · Findings

Every finding of France.

Search, filter by sector, system or status, and sort. The address bar keeps the view, so a filtered list can be shared. Every row opens the finding at its source.

All 12 findings

Findings of France
IDEditionSector or systemIsimoStatement
CLI-001FranceCLI Climate forcing ReportedTerritorial emissions were 369 Mt CO₂e in 2024, 1.8% below 2023 and 32% below 1990.
CLI-002FranceCLI Climate forcing ReportedMeeting the 2030 target of 270 Mt requires cuts of about 15 Mt a year; the 2024 cut was about 7 Mt.
CLI-003FranceCLI Climate forcing Reported2022 was the warmest year on record in metropolitan France.
ENE-004FranceENE Amandla ReportedNuclear output fell to 279 TWh in 2022, the lowest since 1988, as corrosion repairs and heat-limited cooling coincided.
ENE-005FranceENE Amandla ReportedElectricity was about 95% low-carbon in 2024; power-sector emissions fell 26% as nuclear and hydro output recovered.
HLT-006FranceHLT Impilo ReportedHeat caused more than 3,700 deaths in summer 2024; about three quarters were among people aged 75 and over.
FOO-007FranceFOO Ukudla ReportedFrance produces about 18% of the EU’s agricultural output, the largest share of any member state.
WAT-008FranceWAT Amanzi ReportedAgriculture accounts for about 58% of freshwater consumed; the Plan Eau targets a 10% cut in withdrawals by 2030.
FIN-009FranceFIN Ezezimali ReportedAbout 10.4 million detached houses are exposed to clay shrink-swell subsidence, a leading cost of the CatNat regime.
FIN-010FranceFIN Ezezimali ReportedNatural-event insurance claims reached about €10 billion in 2022, the highest since 1999.
BIO-011FranceBIO Ukuhlukahluka kwemvelo ReportedFarmland bird populations have declined by about 30% since 1989.
SYS-012FranceSYS Systemic Expert inputThe leading compound pathway for 2027 testing is a hot, dry summer in which low river flows constrain nuclear cooling while heat, drought, wildfire and clay subsidence load health, food and insurance.

06 · Editions and calendar

The desks’ editions for France.

The desks’ editions for France
DeskEditionStateIdentifier
GCRI Systems EvidenceFrance 2026Drafted, in stewardship reviewNR-COUNTRY-FRA-2026-BASELINE-v1.0.0
GRF Public DeliberationPublic Deliberation: France 2026In preparation
GRA Capital ReadinessCapital Readiness: France 2026In preparation
Standards ProgressNo edition in the 2026 Baseline cycleNot in this cycle
Academy CapabilityNo edition in the 2026 Baseline cycleNot in this cycle
Index MeasurementMeasurement: France 2026In preparation

Calendar · 2026 Baseline

  1. 01Call opensset by the editor
  2. 02Contribution closeset by the editor
  3. 03Evidence close30 September 2026
  4. 04Desk review and releaseset by the editor
  5. 05Collection compilationset by the editor
  6. 06Collection releaseset by the editor
  7. 07Ukulungiswaafter release, as needed

Evidence cut NQ-FRA-2026-Q0-1. Next cycles: Q1 2027, Q2 2027, Q3 2027, Q4 2027; their dates are set by the editor.

07 · Take part

Read it, improve it, cite it.

Corrections log

Versions and corrections
VersionDateStateChangeNotice
NR-COUNTRY-FRA-2026-BASELINE-v1.0.0October 2026DRAFTBaseline Edition 2026, inaugural annual edition,none
Data gaps3What the repository does not hold yet, and the source proposed for each
Data gaps and proposed sources
GapShown here asProposed source
Exposure values per hazard (people, assets, hectares)the edition’s own risk objects, without valuesthe Index country profile once the Index releases values, risksindex.com/fra/
The NHS-1 hazard types and their assignment to this edition’s risk objectsan editorial reading of the hazard wordsthe NHS-1 type assignment through the Registry
Infrastructure in the coupling matrixInfrastructure marked not assessedan Infrastructure row and column in the edition matrix at the next cut
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