Global changes and associated risks

In the face of climate change, loss of biodiversity, biological invasions and threats to natural resources, our research aims to reduce the vulnerability of agriculture, forests, and food systems, and to increase resilience in the context of agroecological and food system transitions.

  • Integrate climate change mitigation and adaptation measures
  • Manage natural resources sustainably
  • Preserve, adapt, and restore biodiversity
  • Assess and manage multiple risks to better anticipate them

FOCUS on Research & Innovation challenges

Foret vue du bas

  • New tools for managing water resources

    Climate change is disrupting the water cycle, exacerbating droughts and flooding, and pressure on this resource will only continue to increase. Agriculture accounts for more than 60% of the water taken from rivers and groundwater, primarily for irrigation, and the surface area under irrigation has tripled over the past 50 years. 
    Objective: develop simulation tools to anticipate changes in water resources across regions based on different climate scenarios, agricultural practices, and storage solutions.
    Target: develop a proof of concept that can be scaled up to the national level.

  • Forest dieback: from forest monitoring to renewal

    Objective: develop a tool for monitoring forest health, with two main deliverables: a data processing pipeline that leverages data from various sources to track anomalies in vegetation and damage at the regional level, and a decision-support tool linked to a catalogue of forest management and restoration actions.
     
  • Characterising and deploying genetic resources

France 2030 programmes coordinated by INRAE

  • PEPR FairCarboN: Carbon in continental ecosystems (INRAE, CNRS) 
  • PEPR FORESTT: Forest resilience  
  • PEPR OneWater: Water, a common good (CNRS, BRGM, INRAE)  
  • PEPR SOLU-BIOD: Biodiversity and nature-based solutions (INRAE, CNRS)
  • PEPR TRANSFORM: Contributing, through transformative research, to reversing current trends which are detrimental to human well-being and the conditions of all living beings on Earth.
  • PEPR Living soils

Our metaprogrammes 

  • BioSefair: Biodiversity and ecosystem services 
  • Climae: Managing climate change in agriculture and forests: Adaptation and mitigation
  • XRisques: Representation, analysis and management of multiple risks and uncertainties affecting food systems, agroecosystems and populations

Our research infrastructures

  • ICOS: Integrated Carbon Observation System 
  • AnaEE France: Analysis and Experimentation on ecosystems 
  • RARe: Biological Resource Centre for Research in Biology, Agronomy and Environment 
  • LIFE: Living in Freshwaters and Estuaries
  • OZCAR: Critical Zone Observatory
  • RZA: Zones Ateliers Network

Understanding avalanche risk

Harsh mountain environments are host to particularly complex interactions between the three dimensions of disaster risk – hazard, vulnerability and exposure. As global temperatures rise, increasingly sophisticated research tools help our researchers to keep pace with the changing patterns of avalanche risk.

Farming futures: out of water?

There can be no farming without water. Yet, the long-established relationship between the two is now unravelling. Global warming is affecting the water cycle while food demand is on the rise, consequently to demographic growth, putting world food security at risk.

Managing tomorrow's forests

From tree production to leisure activities to carbon storage, forests offer a host of essential services to people and the planet. Driven by global warming and other threats such as international trade and deforestation, intensifying weather events are causing certain ranges to perish at worrying speeds, pushing us to re-think how we manage forests.

How can we address environmental challenges and manage the associated risks?

Global changes are increasing the risks which threaten ecosystems, including human societies. Successfully achieving the ecological transition requires designing strategies that reduce vulnerability and increase the resilience of agricultural, food, and environmental systems, as well as that of populations. In the face of climate change, research focuses on mitigation (reducing greenhouse gas emissions, carbon storage) and adaptation. Adaptation involves redesigning systems that combine various levers (water management, genetic selection, practices, financial tools, etc.).

 

Manage natural resources sustainably

Meeting populations’ needs requires the use of natural resources—whether renewable or non-renewable—that are, in all events, limited. Population growth and human pressures make it essential to conserve these resources and use them sustainably. Our research on water, soil, forests, and genetic resources draws on methods such as satellite-based Earth observation and digital tools.

 

Biodiversity is essential

Biodiversity is vital to ecosystem functioning, the agroecological transition, food security, and health. The loss of biodiversity deteriorates ecosystems, increases their vulnerability, and reduces their ability to withstand risks. Our research aims to better understand its dynamics and how it functions in order to develop strategies for protect, restore and use it sustainably. It draws, among other things, on advances in biology and ecology. 

 

Strengthen risk adaptation, management, anticipation, and prevention

In response to the risks which threaten ecosystems and societies, our research aims to better understand the phenomena underlying hazards in a dynamic and uncertain environment, analyze vulnerabilities, assess systems’ capacity for anticipation and adaptation, and develop technical and economic tools and models to support decision-making and the management of resources and territories. This research draws on numerous disciplines to address natural risks (drought, floods, wildfires, avalanches, landslides), technological risks (break in hydraulic structures), health risks, ecotoxicological risks, and economic risks (volatility of agricultural prices). The objective is to provide technical, social, regulatory, and economic knowledge capable of strengthening risk adaptation, management, anticipation, and prevention. It also aims to help decision-makers prioritize actions and to support sustainable and resilient pathways.

More information

Our research themes: Climate change and risks - Biodiversity

INRAE 2030