Public administration and local authorities are facing the dual carbon constraint. To address it, they must plan their phase-out of fossil fuels and strengthen their resilience. The Shift Project’s programs in these areas support them in designing and implementing strategies tailored to a post-carbon transition.
This project proposes a new approach to inform decisions related to the energy and climate transition of local areas. It places resource management at the heart of territorial planning processes, all of which must now address the challenges of energy sovereignty, climate change adaptation, and decarbonization.
The goal is to anticipate the risk of local tensions over “physical resources” (such as water, land, biomass, or energy) by 2050, in order to better align transformation goals and actions with territorial realities. Ultimately, the project aims to support local and national decision-making and foster cooperation at all territorial levels.
+1,7 degrees
3 times more
7 million
Improving the understanding of the impacts of climate disruption and the post-carbon transition on local areas. This involves training initiatives, strengthening territorial expertise, conducting carbon assessments, and diagnosing vulnerabilities to climate and ecological crises. One recommendation: allocate at least 1% of local governments’ annual operating budgets to knowledge building and training.
Involve all local stakeholders—businesses, associations, and citizens—in sharing the challenges of climate change and the transition, so they can take part in both vulnerability assessments and the selection of actions to be implemented. This shared approach helps ensure that the most difficult decisions are better understood, accepted, and carried out. One recommendation (among others): establish a local citizens’ assembly during the development of territorial planning documents, particularly at the inter-territorial level during the revision of Territorial Coherence Schemes (SCOT).
Take into account social and territorial inequalities in the face of climate disruption and the energy transition. The aim is to strengthen social cohesion and empower the most vulnerable—both populations and territories. A sense of fairness in the efforts required is a key condition for success. One recommendation: assess the impact of climate and energy-related actions on social inequalities and disparities between territories.
Dare to question established ways of acting in a radically new and uncertain context. It takes courage to initiate a collective forward-looking approach at the territorial level. This is a key step in defining a new vision for the area—one that is both resource-efficient and desirable for citizens. Experimentation, local initiatives, and transition actors must be better recognized and supported. Local leaders will need to accept making mistakes, letting go, and changing course. One recommendation: implement a moratorium on infrastructure projects in order to systematically carry out ex-ante evaluations focused on resilience and ecological transition.
Align policies and actions with the territory’s low-carbon and resilient vision and objectives. This pursuit of coherence requires spaces for dialogue and debate around inevitably conflicting projects, as well as anticipating mechanisms for decision-making when compromises cannot be reached. Being coherent means being able to make choices—that is, to organize what must be given up. One recommendation: use the territory’s resilience and ecological transition goals to develop or revise planning documents, such as the Intercommunal Local Urban Plan (PLUI), the Territorial Coherence Scheme (SCOT), etc.
The post-carbon transition does not mean autonomy or withdrawal—in fact, quite the opposite. It involves recognizing, and where possible choosing, interdependencies to translate them into cooperation. Given the systemic and multi-scale nature of the challenges, cooperation is a necessity. Cooperation helps break down silos between topics and actors, enabling the joint creation of “co-benefits.” One recommendation: organize annual “COPs” (Conferences of the Parties) for elected officials at intercommunal and regional levels as a coordination tool between territories. These COPs establish shared but differentiated responsibilities among local authorities to pursue common goals and encourage cooperation to achieve them.
Place climate and post-carbon transition issues at the highest level of political priorities. This can be reflected by a dedicated team, equipped with objectives aligned with rapid emissions reduction, adequate funding, positioned at the highest level of governance, and tasked with supporting the evolution of all policies.
By entering a postal code or the name of a territory, this platform provides a selection of vulnerability and resilience indicators across four key areas: agriculture and food, economy and employment, housing, and mobility. Offering diagnostics at the municipal, inter-municipal, departmental, and regional levels, this local information aims to facilitate the engagement of elected officials and local decision-makers. Each vulnerability highlighted by the platform serves as an invitation to act in favor of the territory’s resilience. Territories for the Future thus serves as a starting point to initiate local debate and encourages further action through numerous provided links.
In 2022, the Shift published its report titled “Climate, Crises: How to Transform Our Territories,” a work aimed at raising awareness and mobilizing local decision-makers by calling attention to their responsibility and capacity to make their territories more resilient. The ultimate goal: a change of course for French territories before the end of the municipal term (2026). To support elected officials in their reflection and transition to action, the Shift Project is publishing a new report focusing on the specificities of six types of territories in terms of territorial resilience: Cities, Rural Areas, Metropolises, Mountains, Coastal Areas, and Overseas Territories.
