UK 'strikingly' unprepared against intensifying impacts of climate change: Report

LONDON

The intensifying impacts of climate change over the coming decades could leave the UK vulnerable without better resilience planning and preparation, a new report from the Climate Change Committee (CCC) said Wednesday.

The CCC, an independent statutory body advising the UK and devolved governments on emissions targets and which reports to parliament on progress made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and preparing for and adapting to the impacts of climate change, published its Adaptation Progress Report for England.

The report is a new appraisal of the outcomes needed to build climate resilience across the economy, the extent of policies and their delivery.

The UK's experience of the first 40C (104F) in the summer of 2022 was the clearest indication that climate change has arrived in the country, the CCC said, noting that record-breaking temperatures last year "brought unprecedented heat-related deaths, wildfire incidents and significant infrastructure disruption."

Driven by the record-breaking heatwave in the UK last year, heat-related mortality was estimated to be at an all-time high, the report said.

According to the CCC, there is a striking lack of climate preparation from the UK government.

"The government's lack of urgency on climate resilience is in sharp contrast to the recent experience of people in this country. People, nature and infrastructure face damaging impacts as climate change takes hold. These impacts will only intensify in the coming decades," Baroness Brown, chair of the Adaptation Committee at the CCC, said in the statement.

"This has been a lost decade in preparing for and adapting to the known risks that we face from climate change. Each month that passes without action locks in more damaging impacts and threatens the delivery of other key government objectives, including Net Zero. We have laid out a clear path for the government to improve the country's climate resilience. They must step up."

The critical sectors that the UK needs to increase its resilience in planning and preparation include food security, water supply, energy, health, nature, working lands and seas, telecoms, transport, cities and buildings.

Lack of finance emerges as one of the key issues in climate preparedness as adaptation projects are failing due to lack of finance. The report finds the inclusion of adaptation in financial reporting, regulation and institutions is not sufficient to drive investment.

The CCC said the current National Adaptation Program is not sufficient to match the scale of the challenge now facing the country as it falls short of a clear vision and has not driven policy and implementation across government.

The UK government is expected to publish the third National Adaptation Program this summer.

"This is a make-or-break moment to avoid a further five years of lackluster planning and preparation," the CCC said, calling for a strong program that will also contribute to the global efforts to tackle climate change.