The climate change challenges facing the UK economy, environment and public health have been laid out in the government’s latest Climate Change Risk Assessment, published today which sets out the 6 priority risk areas requiring further action in the UK over the next 5 years.

The UK Climate Change Risk Assessment 2017 continues the government’s ongoing commitment to ensure the country can adapt to a changing climate, and will be followed by the second National Adaptation Programme setting out how the government will be addressing these risks.

The new report recognises how the trend towards warmer winters, hotter summers and changing rainfall patterns is affecting communities across the UK and sets out the government’s ongoing investment and work to tackle these risks.

Introducing the assessment, Defra Minister Lord Gardiner said:

“Our changing climate is one of the most serious environmental challenges that we face as a nation and that is why we are taking action, from improving flood defences across the country to securing our critical food and water supplies.”

“The latest assessment will help us develop our long-term programme to tackle these risks so we can continue our work to protect the nation better today and for future generations.”

Compelling evidence climate change could lead to significantly increased risks from flooding 

Commenting on flooding and coastal change risks, the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment 2017 Evidence Report presents compelling evidence that climate change may lead to increases in heavy rainfall and significantly increased risks from fluvial and surface flooding by mid-century. Rising sea levels may further increase the risk of flooding and erosion along the coastline.

The Evidence Report is recommending more ambitious approaches to adaptation, working with communities, businesses and other partners to meet this challenge by:

• ensuring there are long-term strategies in place to address projected risks to people, communities and buildings
• delivering more natural flood management and developing a more integrated approach in high-risk catchments, especially where there are likely to be co-benefits such as carbon storage, water quality and biodiversity benefits.

The Assessment says:

"Incorporating natural flood management measures is key to our approach and we encourage such schemes as part of large capital projects."

Referring to the National Flood Resilience Review published in September 2016, the Assessment says the review will inform the Government’s consideration of long-term investment needs and funding options.

Climate change and population growth could put greater pressure on public water supply

On risks to the public water supply, the assessment sets out how climate change combined with population growth may put greater pressure on water availability. By the 2050s, many catchments across the UK will need to manage water deficits and competing demands for water for public supply, industry, agriculture and the environment.

The assessment says:

“We are aware that the current water abstraction system (set up in the 1960s) is not flexible or modern enough to respond to pressures on the environment, farm and other business requirements, and the needs of our public water supply. We are therefore committed to reform the system by the early 2020s to create a better, fairer, more modern and flexible approach that will support business resilience, investment and growth, and manage the pressures of a growing population and climate change.”

Significant threats" to the UK’s natural capital and the goods and services it provides

Risks to natural capital, including terrestrial, coastal, marine and freshwater ecosystems, soils and biodiversity are also flagged up in the assessment which identifies “significant threats" to the UK’s natural capital and the goods and services it provides.

The Evidence Report says that direct impacts on the distribution of UK biodiversity and the composition of terrestrial, coastal, marine and freshwater ecosystems are already being observed. There is clear evidence of northwards shifts in species distributions and the timing of seasonal events due to climate change. It also highlights important links between climate change impacts on natural capital and the other risk areas.

The assessment says the UK has already made considerable progress since the first National Adaptation Programme in July 2013, including:

• Investing £2.5 billion over six years to improve flood defences, to better protect over 300,000 homes.
• Strengthening planning policy to make clear that sustainable drainage systems should be included in all major new developments, unless demonstrated to be inappropriate.
• Placing a new resilience duty on Ofwat through the Water Act 2014 and publishing the Enabling Resilience in the Water Sector report to ensure the long-term resilience of water and sewerage services.
• Updating the Heatwave Plan for England to protect the population from heat-related harm to health.
• Maintaining over 95% (by area) of England’s Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) at ‘favourable’ or ‘recovering’ condition, and establishing 50 Marine Conservation Zones with 34 new byelaws to protect them.
• Working closely with the food industry to ensure the security and resilience of food supply, using the latest technology delivered through the new Agri-Tech Innovation Centres.
• Constructing a UK Plant Health Risk Register to compare the risks posed by different plant pests and pathogens.
• Committing to develop a 25 year environment plan that takes climate change into account.

The Climate Change Risk Assessment, drawing primarily on the independent evidence report published in July 2016 by the Adaptation Sub-Committee of the Committee on Climate Change, will be followed by the National Adaptation Programme to be published in 2018.

Click here to download the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment,2017