The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is calling for the government to commission a review of the economic value of climate adaptation, which could have a similar catalysing impact as the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change and the Dasgupta Review on the Economics of Biodiversity.

The call for a review is the flagship recommendation from the ICE’s new report, Making resilience count: The economic value of climate readiness.

The ICE says a review would help decision makers understand the tangible benefits of taking action to improve the UK infrastructure’s readiness, as well as the costs. It would also help decision makers understand why investing now will be less expensive than waiting.

The ICE recommends that the review has some independent element but should be commissioned from the centre of government. It also says that a senior minister should be accountable for implementing its findings.

The impact of such reviews can be substantial. The Stern Review was the genesis of government carbon budgets, which have helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 54% between 1990 and 2025.

In addition to calling for an independent review, the ICE has made recommendations about what such a review should look like.

What should an independent review of the economics of climate adaptation include?

ICE says the review should take a whole-systems, cross-sector approach, incorporating transport, water and power networks, and it should cover multiple timescales.

The short term might cover 2030 to 2040, medium term up to 2050, and long term, up to 2100.

This would help identify immediate and short-term risks and help ensure that the review remains relevant beyond five-year political cycles.

It should also map who owns relevant data sets, address gaps and what would be required to make data useful for improving resilience.

It should aim to ensure that climate adaptation and resilience are fully embedded in government’s strategic planning and spending frameworks.

The ICE’s report also includes insights on methodologies that should be applied to the review and existing tools that may be useful.

Interviews with sector experts, written submissions from ICE members and other stakeholders, and a literature review informed the recommendations. The work was also supported by economics consultancy Frontier Economics.

"Enormous opportunity to adapt infrastructure systems has been neglected"

Sam Gould, ICE’s director of policy and external affairs, said,

"This summer’s heatwaves were some of clearest evidence yet that we need to make adaptation just as much of a priority as reducing emissions. There’s an enormous opportunity to adapt our infrastructure systems, but it’s been neglected.

“Critical systems with huge economic implications that people rely on, like water, power and transport networks, aren’t as resilient as they should be. Understanding the positive impact that investing in adaptation could have will help decision makers prioritise resilience across the political system.

“An independent review could jump-start real change in our approach to adaptation, making the sort of progress we have seen with reducing greenhouse gas emissions possible.

“We urge the government to commission an independent review into the economics of climate adaptation as soon as possible.”

The ICE’s recommendations are:

• The government should commission a review of the economic value of climate adaptation and resilience. This would focus the debate around economic choices and value created to address the systemic undervaluing of climate readiness in investment and regulatory decisions.
• The review should adopt a whole-system, cross-sector approach and cover multiple timescales. Infrastructure is an interdependent system of systems. Understanding the interdependencies and the potential for cascading risks between sectors will improve the economic case for adaptation and resilience. Delivering adaptation and resilience depends on coherent frameworks across all sectors and levels of government.
• The review should map who owns relevant datasets, how accessible they are, what restrictions apply, and what would be required to make them useful for resilience planning. While a lot of data already exists, much of it is fragmented across multiple bodies and there are gaps in understanding climate impacts and interdependencies. Data users need the skills and tools to apply data effectively in decision-making.
• The review should explore innovative methods to assess the value of climate adaptation and resilience. This should draw on existing tools, methodologies and guidance, developed by the Climate Change Committee and others, for valuing adaptation, assessing the cost of inaction and managing uncertainty and complex scenarios.
• The review should evaluate the role of regulators in embedding climate adaptation into infrastructure decisions. This includes how well regulators currently value and incentivise adaptation, what role they should play and whether they have the remit, tools and incentives to carry out this role.

Click here to download  Making resilience count: The economic value of climate readiness