CCC: UK struggling to keep pace with climate change impacts

The Climate Change Committee has released a comprehensive independent assessment which found that action to improve the nation’s resilience is failing to keep pace with the impacts of a warming planet and increasing climate risks facing the UK.

The UK is experiencing widespread changes in the climate; average land temperature has risen by around 1.2°C from pre-industrial levels, UK sea levels have risen by 16cm since 1900 and episodes of extreme heat are becoming more frequent.

That is the conclusion of a comprehensive independent assessment led by the Climate Change Committee (CCC) which considered a catalogue of risks and opportunities affecting every aspect of life in the UK.

Since the CCC’s last assessment 5 years ago, over 570,000 new homes have been built that are not resilient to future high temperatures and since 2018 over 4,000 heat-related deaths have been recorded in England.

People, nature, and infrastructure are already vulnerable to a range of climate impacts today and these will only increase in the coming years as the climate continues to change. The longer action to address these risks is delayed, the higher the costs the Government and the UK public will face, says the CCC.

Baroness Brown, Chair of the Adaptation Committee said: “The severity of the risks we face must not be underestimated. These risks will not disappear as the world moves to Net Zero; many of them are already locked in. By better understanding and preparing for the coming changes, the UK can prosper, protecting its people, its economy, and its natural environment. A detailed, effective action plan that prepares the UK for climate change is now essential and needed urgently.”

There are strong benefits from taking effective adaptation action. The assessment identifies a range of steps that will have benefits in the next five years if implemented on a wide scale, such as building design and retrofit, habitat creation and improved access to information on climate impacts. Importantly, while the changing climate also creates some opportunities for the UK, these do not offset the risks and also require early action to realise.

The Climate Change Committee has said the Government has an important role to deliver a much better action plan to support good adaptation planning across the UK and integrate this into all relevant Government plans and policies.

The CCC say to date, the Government has not heeded the advice on the importance of this plan or on funding it adequately and said that this must change.

Find out more here.

16 June 2021

Climate Action