Covid-19, global warming, erosion of social ties… In recent years, France has suffered shocks that have undermined the country’s “resilience”. Behind this word, our country’s capacity to cope with the coming risks. The French Red Cross, in a report published this Thursday morning and subject to renewal from year to year, seeks the weaknesses of our French society. With one question: are we ready to face tomorrow’s crises?
“We are not ready today, but we are able to prepare”, sums up Philippe Da Costa, president of the French Red Cross. “Our analysis shows a deterioration in resilience over recent years. The risks are increasing – natural events have increased by an average of 24% between 2010 and 2022”, points out Philippe Da Costa. Added to this was Covid, which shook French society, followed by the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis, and inflation, which weakened the portfolio of the French. At the same time, French society’s capacity for cohesion and resistance has been blunted.
“The French appear more isolated than before in the face of an unforeseen expense, requiring them to rely more on their reserves or the sale of items rather than on their personal, professional, financial networks,” notes the report, which is based on Living Conditions and The aspiration survey by Credoc, which asked the population three times at twenty-year intervals (the beginning of the 1980s, the end of the 1990s and close to 2020) about their resources in the face of an unforeseen expenditure of 2,000 euros. In addition, only one in ten French people know the movements that save, while the response time in the event of an emergency between 2014 and 2021 has been extended from 12mn30 to 14mn49.
A day of preparation for global warming
The Red Cross is launching an appeal to strengthen our capacity to cope with the upheavals announced in the world. She suggests launching a national day for preparing for climate change, “in a context where 80% of the French believe that they were not or poorly prepared in relation to crises or disasters”. It will include “a period of awareness, training and crisis simulation, everywhere in the territory, in schools, universities, companies, a democratic period in which the government will present the status of the country’s preparation in the light of risks and a local assessment period, an opportunity for the municipalities to take stock of the organization of the effort and local solidarity”.
Another measure: “train more and better in first aid”, pleads Philippe Da Costa, and promote “a course of commitment throughout life, from school, university to the world of work”. Developing survival tools in a world where crisis will be an integral part of everyday life…
