Natural environment

The Adaptation Committee published its report on progress in preparing for climate change in July. In a previous blog I gave some high level reflections on the Government’s latest National Adaptation Programme. It’s fair to say that our assessment has some blunt messages about lack of progress and low ambition in England.

The Paris Agreement demands tougher action to remove greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere. We must, at the same time, prepare for the inevitable climate change that is already happening. In this context, current uses of land in the UK must change, the CCC says in two new reports.

This report by the Committee on Climate Change assesses the role of land use change in meeting climate change mitigation and adaptation objectives.

The Committee's Adaptation Sub-Committee (ASC) commissioned AECOM to produce two reports assessing adaption actions in the UK's cities and natural environment.

This letter from Lord Deben and Baroness Brown of Cambridge forms the response of the Committee on Climate Change and the Adaptation Sub-Committee to the consultation on Environment Principles and Governance after EU Exit.

The Government has today published the second National Adaptation Programme (NAP) for England, setting out how it intends to manage the increasing risks from flooding, drought, heat, sea level rise and severe weather. The Committee has responded.

Every five years the UK government sets out how it intends to manage the increasing risks from flooding, drought, heat, sea level rise and severe weather in a ‘National Adaptation Programme.’ Kathryn Brown, Head of Adaptation at the Committee on Climate Change, takes a first look at the government’s latest plan and considers whether it’s fit for purpose.

Whilst the recent warm weather has been a welcome treat for some of us, extended hot and dry periods put extra pressure on UK water supplies. Climate change is only adding to the problem. David Style says steps must be taken now, by regulators, water companies and individuals, to ensure the taps don’t run dry in the years ahead.

A letter from Kathryn Brown, Head of Adaptation for the Adaptation Sub-Committee, to Clare Harrison, Deputy Director, Head of Decarbonisation at the Scottish Government. The letter provides advice on using an outcomes-based approach for the Scottish Climate Change Adaptation Programme.

A letter from Lord Deben and Baroness Brown of Cambridge to Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs, in response to the consultation document on the proposed Environment Principles and Governance Bill.