Question 17166 — cultural heritage

Summary

Mr. Emmanuel Duplessy draws the attention of the Minister of Culture to the adaptation of French monumental heritage to the consequences of climate change. The work of the IPCC converges to announce an increase in the frequency, intensity and duration of heat waves, drought episodes as well as extreme weather phenomena. These developments now constitute a direct threat to the conservation of the built heritage. The Loire castles, emblematic of national heritage, offer a particularly worrying illustration of this. At the Azay-le-Rideau castle, owned by the State and managed by the Center for National Monuments, the drop in the level of the Indre linked to drought poses a risk to the oak stilts which support the foundations of the monument. Episodes of high heat also promote proliferation of invasive species in the moats, while water variations require constant monitoring of the site. Other monuments are experiencing comparable difficulties: in Chenonceau, the alternation between droughts and intense rains weakens the foundations, masonry and water evacuation systems, while in Chambord or Amboise, bad weather has recently required major emergency work. According to the balance sheet 2019-2024 from the Ministry of Culture, almost a quarter of protected historic monuments are still considered to be in poor condition or in danger. At the same time, several studies, notably those of the Climate Action Network, identify the Centre-Val de Loire region as one of the most exposed to the consequences of climate change, in particular due to the shrinkage-swelling of clay soils and the multiplication of episodes of drought. Although restoration operations today make it possible to respond to the most urgent situations, they often remain ad hoc and are not part of an overall strategy for adapting heritage to new climatic conditions. He therefore asks whether the Government intends to initiate a national plan to adapt historic monuments to climate change, making it possible to anticipate the risks weighing on heritage, to strengthen the expertise and monitoring capacities of the most exposed monuments and to support public owners in the investments necessary for their preservation.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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