UK unprepared for climate impacts, says advisory body

The UK is not prepared for climate impacts, held back by ineffective and outdated ways of working within government, according to the Climate Change Committee, an independent, statutory body set up to advise the UK and devolved governments on emissions targets. It called for action to raise the profile of adaptation across government and increase coordination. The committee said: “There is now unequivocal evidence that climate change is making extreme weather in the UK more likely and more extreme. Across the UK, this looks like heatwaves, heavy rainfall, and wildfire-conducive conditions. The UK is not appropriately prepared for this. Notably, there has been no change in addressing this risk with the change in government.” The committee listed its immediate concerns, and it expects these to worsen if no action is taken: More than half of England’s top quality agricultural land is at risk of flooding today, with a further increase in total agriculture land at risk expected by 2050. Climate change also poses a major threat to UK biodiversity, at a time when it is degrading rapidly. 3 million properties in England are in areas at risk of flooding from rivers, the sea and surface water. This is predicted to rise to around eight million (one in four) by 2050. Over a third of railway and road kilometres are currently at flood risk, predicted to rise to around half by 2050. Heat-related deaths already occur in the thousands each year but could rise several times over to exceed 10,000 in an average year by 2050. Estimates suggest that unchecked climate change could impact UK economic output by up to 7% of GDP by 2050. Baroness Brown, chair of the Adaptation Committee, said: “We have seen in the last couple of years that the country is not prepared for the impacts of climate change. We know there is worse to come, and we are not ready – indeed in many areas we are not even planning to be ready. The threat is greatest for the most vulnerable: we do not have resilient hospitals, schools, or care homes. Public and private institutions alike are unprepared.” She added: “Ineffective and outdated ways of working within government are holding back the country’s ability to be future-fit. Is this government going to face up to the reality of our situation? Failing to act will impact every family and every person in the country.” The committee recommends four key areas of action to raise the profile of adaptation across government and drive a more effective response to the UK’s changing climate. Improve objectives and targets: This is the vital first step to provide an actionable and measurable framework for the rest of government and beyond. As part of this, the government must communicate clearly the respective roles of government, the private sector and households in delivering and funding adaptation. Improve coordination across government: Adaptation and climate risks are still only weakly integrated with wider government resilience efforts and other key policy agendas. Greater coordination across activities, spending decisions, sectors, and departments is required. Government adaptation efforts must be better linked with wider resilience planning to ensure that adaptation becomes a true cross-government priority. Integrate adaptation into all relevant policies: The next Spending Review needs to ensure that climate adaptation planning is supported with sufficient resources across government. Public assets and critical public services such as the NHS need to be resilient to current and future weather so that they can operate effectively and, in the case of new infrastructure, without costly retrofitting. Implement monitoring, evaluation and learning across all sectors: Adequate monitoring and evaluation, underpinned by regular data collection and reporting, is essential to track climate impacts and the effect of adaptation measures at a national level. It is also needed to ensure future planning learns from what is effective. The long-standing gap of an effective monitoring and evaluation framework for adaptation must finally be closed.

UK unprepared for climate impacts, says advisory body

Want to read this article?

Read Next

BIBA wants time limit on key disclosure requirements

Dutch risk managers urged to embrace uncertainty and work collectively to seek solutions

Uncertain world demands sharp focus on the basics

Product recalls in Europe hit 11-year high in Q1: Sedgwick

BMS targets growth in Türkiye with Oria acquisition

BIBA wants time limit on key disclosure requirements

Dutch risk managers urged to embrace uncertainty and work collectively to seek solutions

Uncertain world demands sharp focus on the basics

Product recalls in Europe hit 11-year high in Q1: Sedgwick

BMS targets growth in Türkiye with Oria acquisition

Keep yourself informed

Sign up for Commercial Risk’s newsletters

Want to read this article?

Read Next

BIBA wants time limit on key disclosure requirements

Dutch risk managers urged to embrace uncertainty and work collectively to seek solutions

Uncertain world demands sharp focus on the basics

Product recalls in Europe hit 11-year high in Q1: Sedgwick

BMS targets growth in Türkiye with Oria acquisition

Related Articles

Keep yourself informed

Sign up for Commercial Risk’s newsletters