What can Brazilian power companies learn from the French experience when developing their climate change adaptation strategy?

International audienceSince the launch of the latest report of Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in March 2014, called the AR5 (Assessment Report), the discussions on climate change have been expanded, moving from a view focused only on mitigation to a broader one, considering also the need to adapt to climate changes that are already underway. This movement has impacted not only on the strategies andactions of national, regional and local governments, but also on different sectors of the economy.The electricity sector is notoriously one of the main actors of global climate change and it now begins to present another important role: the role of a sector that is also vulnerable to the consequences of climate change. As so, some new important questions arise: How the sector must be prepared to minimize the consequences of temperature increases, changes in precipitation and more frequent occurrence of extreme weather events on the energy offer, on the energy demand and on the energy assets and infrastructure? What are the key aspects to be considered by a power company when building a strategy for climate change including both mitigation and adaptation issues? How companies can prepare themselves to the climate changes already underway as to have a minimal impact on their business? It is in this challenging context that this paper takes place. It presents the results of a research project developed by researchers of CEPEL/Eletrobras (Electrical Energy Research Center) and PACTE (Social Science Research Laboratory of Grenoble Alpes University) which aims to bring to Brazil greater expertise in the subject of climate change governance and climate change adaptation. The paper shows the first results of a campaign of interviews realized in France with key stakeholders, that tried to address how the French electricity companies and territories are preparing to minimize the consequences (or profit from them) of climate change. From the analysis of positive and negative points of that experience at different action levels (policies, plans, programs, strategies) it is discussed the key aspects of an effective Adaptation Strategy to Climate Change in the Brazilian electricity companies, in a way to enable the consideration of the possible impact that climate changes may bring to electricity generation, transmission and distribution