Climate resilience against floods and droughts in Hauts-de-France Region

From 24 to 26 September 2024, the Policy Learning Platform is organising a peer review for the Region Hauts-de-France and the Institution des Wateringues. 

In Northern France, the effects of global warming are already having an impact on the water resources. In recent years, the impact of climate change has resulted in longer periods of drought and shorter periods of rain, with rainfall becoming increasingly stormy and struggling to infiltrate the soil properly. The autumn and winter of 2023/2024 were very rainy, leading to unprecedented flooding over a large part of the region due to the combined effects of heavy rainfall, land use that did not sufficiently encourage infiltration at the plot level and polder areas that were unable to properly drain water to the sea due to tide levels. The Delta of the Aa River and its polder were particularly concerned and demonstrated the vulnerability of the territory.

The Region Hauts-de-France and the Institution Intercommunale des Wateringues aspire to gather insights from international experiences, engage in European collaboration to address the territorial challenges of climate change related to the increasing number of floods and droughts.