TODAY, wildfires are consuming 11m hectares of land in Canada and temperatures in southern Europe are over 46C. Britain is increasingly vulnerable to flash floods and heatwaves, and in 2022 high temperatures contributed to the deaths of nearly 3000 people in Great Britain.
It is against this backdrop that the UK government has set out its disappointing proposals for national adaptation to global warming.
Over five years, the UK government’s third National Adaptation Programme aims to boost resilience and protect people, homes, businesses and our cultural heritage against climate change risks such as flooding, drought and heatwaves.
But talking to The Guardian, Bob Ward, policy director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics said ““The new plan falls far short of being a strategy that will ensure the protection of lives and livelihoods against more frequent and intense floods, droughts and heatwaves.”
Environment secretary, Thérèse Coffey, says: “From helping homes, schools and hospitals prevent overheating to safeguarding our food and energy supply chains from disruption, the publication of the third National Adaptation Programme marks a step-change in the UK government’s approach to climate adaptation, setting out in one place the ambitious programme the government is undertaking to address the key climate risks facing the country.”
But Ward told The Guardian: “Despite the claim of a step-change, it outlines measures that lack the urgency and scale necessary to make households and businesses resilient.
“For example, the section on dealing with the mounting risks of heatwaves is very weak. It promises lots of new research on how homes and workplaces overheat, when this work should already have been undertaken. We need a national heat risk strategy and an urgent retrofit programme to stop existing buildings from overheating and damaging health and productivity.”
The Guardian further reports that a source with detailed knowledge of the plan said: “This is yet another weak plan coming from a government that isn’t prioritising climate change or the environment.” The source said restatements of existing measures had been used in an attempt to “beef up” the plan.
The National Adaptation Programme includes commitments to:
- Embed an all-encompassing approach to climate resilience in line with the Government’s Resilience Framework, which sets out commitments to review standards, assurance and regulation of infrastructure sectors, improving the systems and capabilities that underpin our resilience planning.
- Extend support to vulnerable communities worldwide and tripling adaptation funding through official development assistance to £1.5 billion by 2025. This is the first time ever a domestic programme of this type will have a dedicated response to overseas climate risks, including supporting climate vulnerable communities globally.
- Protect lives and wellbeing across the UK, with a new UK Health Security Agency Adverse Weather & Health Plan that builds on existing health alerting systems which will bolster the health system to be better adapted to an increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events.
- Pilot a dedicated Local Authority Climate Service which will provide easy access to localised climate data. This Met Office tool will help local authorities plan adaptation by informing them about hazards such as increased heavy rainfall patterns and extreme heat.
- Ensure a healthy and thriving natural environment through the measures in our landmark Environment Act, Plan for Water and Environmental Land Management Schemes which will all boost biodiversity, protect and restore our peatlands, wetlands and rivers, and the wider natural environment, and improve air quality – helping to meet our Net Zero goals and build resilience.
- Develop capacity and capability for Historic England to model long-term impacts of climate change on cultural heritage caused by increased temperatures, increased rainfall, sea level rise and extreme weather.
- Establish a senior government officials Climate Resilience Board to oversee cross-cutting climate adaptation and resilience issues across government, including preparations for heatwaves, flooding and drought, driving further action to increase UK resilience to climate change.
Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey said “The UK has decarbonised faster than any other G7 country since 1990 – but the effects of a changing climate are becoming increasingly evident in the UK, as well as on a global scale, through a surge in the frequency and severity of heatwaves, floods, droughts and wildfires.
“By taking action now, through enhancing our infrastructure, promoting a greener economy, and ensuring resilient food production, we can protect our national security, economic stability, and overall resilience in the face of these climate challenges. This robust five-year plan will secure a more resilient, sustainable future for future generations.”
A new £15 million joint research initiative led by Defra and UKRI will equip researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners with vital data, skills, and incentives they need to ensure proactive adaptation is happening across all areas of government policy.
The plan also outlines how schools and hospitals will develop plans to adapt to a warmer climate, including the prevention of overheating. Schools will look to use nature-based solutions, including sustainable drainage systems such as rain gardens and natural shading for outdoor spaces.
The Government will also incorporate climate resilience into industrial and security strategies to protect the country’s energy sector, safeguarding the provision of goods and services from climate-related disruption.
£5.2 billion is also being invested in new flood and coastal defences – and the number of government funded projects, including nature-based solutions, will be doubled by 2027.
Environment Agency Chief Executive Philip Duffy said “The unfolding scale of climate change presents a huge challenge for our environment, society and economy. The Environment Agency’s work on flood risk reduction, water management and nature plays an important role in our national climate resilience. We look forward to working with Government and our partners to deliver the new National Adaptation Programme.”