UK Govt Has "No Credible Plans" For Dealing With Increasing Extremes In Weather, Especially Flooding

The UK’s plans for adapting to the effects of the climate crisis “fall far short” of what is required, the government’s statutory adviser has said. The Climate Change Committee (CCC) has examined the national adaptation programme published by ministers last July, intended to set out how people, buildings and vital national infrastructure such as water, transport, energy and telecommunications networks could be protected from the increasing severity of storms, floods, heatwaves and droughts that are afflicting the UK as a result of global heating.

In a damning verdict delivered on Wednesday, the committee found that the government had no credible plan for making the UK resilient to the increasing effects of extreme weather. Julia King, chair of the adaptation subcommittee of the CCC, said: “The evidence of the damage from climate change has never been clearer, but the UK’s current approach to adaptation is not working.”

The national adaptation plan published last July, known as Nap3, was the third in a series of five-yearly updates in response to an assessment of climate risks, required under the 2008 Climate Change Act, from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

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The UK should also be helping other nations to adapt, he added. Half of the UK’s food imports come from places around the world likely to bear the brunt of the rapidly changing climate. “If we don’t support other nations to adapt, then harvests of staples such as rice, bananas and tea will fall, leading to shortages and higher prices,” Redmond-King said. Last month was the hottest February ever recorded globally, and in the UK it was the fourth wettest. Heavy rain is making it difficult for farmers to get crops in the ground, while crop pollination may also suffer as the mild February brought bees early from their winter sleep, only to famish as few blooms were ready. Tom Lancaster, land analyst at ECIU, said: “Relentless rain this winter is likely to lead to a terrible harvest, come the summer. Floods last year hit yields, just as droughts did the year before.”

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/13/uk-climate-crisis-plans-fall-far-short-of-what-is-required-ccc-says