A House of Commons Parliamentary Committee is warning that heat-related deaths are set to treble by 2050 and that the higher temperatures which caused 2000+ deaths in 2003 will be the summer norm by the 2040s.

In a new report published today - Heatwaves: adapting to climate change - the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) warns that adaptation to heatwaves is becoming a matter of life and death and calling for the Government to take urgent action now.

The Committee has found that failing to address the danger of heatwaves will threaten the wellbeing of an increasing number of vulnerable people.

Introducing the report, Mary Creagh MP, Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee:

“Heatwave warnings are welcomed as barbecue alerts, but they threaten health, wellbeing and productivity. The Met Office has projected that UK summer temperatures could regularly reach 38.5°C by the 2040s. The Government must stop playing pass the parcel with local councils and the NHS and develop a strategy to protect our ageing population from this increasing risk.

“Heatwaves cause premature deaths from cardiac, kidney and respiratory disease. There will be 7,000 heat-related deaths every year in the UK by 2050 if the Government does not take action.

“The Government needs to do more to warn the public of the health risks of heatwaves, particularly when they fall outside of the summer period, and should appoint a minister to lead work across Government. The Government’s new adaptation plan promises no effective action to prevent overheating in buildings. It must change building regulations and planning policies to ensure homes and transport networks are able to deal with extreme heat, and that local authorities and cities have green spaces and heat-resilient infrastructure.”

Stricter water efficiency standards as part of the building regulations are among a wide range measures the Committee has called on the Government to introduce. Others include:

• Review the capacity of local authorities to deliver climate change resilience, require them to report on their adaptation to climate change and introduce an urban green infrastructure target for cities
• Ensure NHS England issues guidance on planning for summer pressures, to ensure that adequate steps are taken to prepare the NHS for more frequent heatwaves. NHS organisations should submit annual heatwave plans to ensure they are prepared for the sudden onset of a heatwave;
• Inspect resilience to heatwaves in hospitals and care homes through the Care Quality Commission and NHS England;
• Coordinate a study of vulnerability to heat-health risks on transport and how this contributes to economic loss during heatwaves;
• Protect peoples’ health by changing building regulations to prevent overheating;
• Make businesses aware of the threat of heatwaves and the economic consequences.
• Consult on introducing maximum workplace temperatures, especially for work that involves significant physical effort;
• Launch a public information campaign on the growing frequency and intensity of heatwaves and run a year-round heatwave alert system to warn vulnerable people about the health risks; and
• Provide a Ministerial lead in the Department of Health and Social Care with responsibility for climate change related health risks.

The EAC says that ensuring safe and heatwave resilient homes must be a priority. However, there is currently no building regulation to prevent overheating in buildings, and tests to identify overheating are weak and ineffective, according to the report. The Committee had also “heard uncertainty” from Government Ministers about whether the building regulations should be used to protect human health.

Local authorities and cities should be driving adaptation

The report says that local authorities should be driving adaptation for heatwaves, across a range of areas such public health, local spatial plans, and urban development.

However, the Committee only received evidence from one local authority and the Local Government Association confirmed that they "do not have a bespoke work programme on climate change adaption."

Funding for programmes to support local authority climate change adaptation was also withdrawn in 2015/16, leading to the closure of numerous regional climate change partnerships.

The EAC is recommending that the Government should introduce an urban green infrastructure target as part of the metrics for the 25 Year Environment Plan and in the National Planning Policy Framework to ensure towns and cities are adapted to more frequent heatwaves in the future.

Government should set 110 litres per person per day as mandatory standard in water efficiency for new builds

The UK’s water supply is expected to reduce by 4–7% and this will be exacerbated by the increasing demand for water during heatwaves, particularly in cities. The Committee is calling for the Government to raise its ambitions for water efficiency by adopting 110 litres per person per day as the mandatory standard in Part G of the building regulations for all new buildings.

The report also points out that adapting to heatwaves is complex and that the impact on health can be affected by overheating on public transport, in cities and in buildings, with policies spanning several government departments and local government.

The Committee is calling on the Department of Health and Social Care to provide a Ministerial lead on responsibility for climate change related health risk to work closely with DEFRA and across government.

Public information campaign on risk of heatwaves

Commenting on public awareness levels, the report says the Government does not provide clear information for the public on the developing threat of heatwaves. The Government’s heatwave alert system only runs from June to September, so vulnerable people are not warned about unseasonal heatwaves.

In August 2003 temperatures reached 38.5°C in England and there were 2,193 heat-related deaths across the UK in 10 days. The Met Office predicts that similar heatwaves will occur every other year by the 2040s. The average number of heat-related deaths in the UK is expected to more than treble to 7,000 per year by the 2050s.

Greenpeace: Govt should abandon fracking and nuclear and invest in renewables and energy storage

In response to the EAC's report, published this environmental organisation Greenpeace UK has called on the Government to abandon fracking and airport expansion, stop supporting the nuclear industry and invest in the renewable and energy storage technology.

Kate Blagojevic, Head of Energy at Greenpeace UK, commented:

"The impacts of climate change are being felt around the world already, and we have to adapt. There's no way to avoid this, but if all governments, particularly of industrialised countries, take rapid, concerted action to reduce our carbon emissions now, then the climate will stabilise over time, and we can adapt our infrastructure to the new conditions we find ourselves in.”

“However, if the UK and all governments continue to kick the can down a never ending road, then the situation will just get worse and worse. To make adaptation possible, we need to forget fracking and airport expansion, stop trying to prop up the failing nuclear industry and invest in the renewable and energy storage technology that will power this century."

Click here to download the report Heatwaves: adapting to climate change