Climate adaptation and emergency response

The UK is facing increasingly frequent and severe environmental and weather-related events, including storms, flooding, heatwaves and wildfires. These, and other weather and climate related events, pose growing risks to public health, infrastructure, food production, and the natural environment. The Climate Change Committee has reported that long-term economic output could fall by up to 7% … Show more

The UK is facing increasingly frequent and severe environmental and weather-related events, including storms, flooding, heatwaves and wildfires. These, and other weather and climate related events, pose growing risks to public health, infrastructure, food production, and the natural environment. The Climate Change Committee has reported that long-term economic output could fall by up to 7% due to environmental disruption. The Government is legally required to assess climate-related risks and publish a programme (the National Adaptation Programme) every five years setting out how it will address them. Our ability to adapt effectively as a country will be critical to our long-term resilience. Defra leads on adaptation and resilience in England and coordinates the Government’s response to major incidents, including extreme weather and natural hazards. Reducing the risk and impact of flooding and coastal erosion on people, communities, and the environment has been specified as one of Defra’s four priority outcomes. This long-term inquiry will examine how well the UK is preparing for and responding to environmental and weather-related risks such as landslips, wildfires, drought and coastal erosion. It will explore the effectiveness of national strategies, the integration of resilience into wider planning and investment decisions, and the adequacy of current systems to protect people, places and nature. The inquiry will also consider the Government’s capacity to respond to major emergencies, including both natural hazards and recovery from incidents that cause environmental damage. This will encompass the capacity of local authorities, emergency services, and communities to prepare for, respond to, and recover from such events. The Committee will call for evidence on a regular basis and produce iterative and focused reports throughout the inquiry. Topics for scrutiny will include, but are not limited to: The nature and scale of changing climate and weather risks to communities and the economy. The effectiveness of natural hazard risk and emergency response, for example to wildfires, land slips and storms. Resilience to extreme weather including heatwaves, drought and increased rainfall. Climate adaptation and nature-based solutions. Resilience of critical national infrastructure including food and water security. Incident recovery and response to domestic environmental disasters including impact on local emergency services. Impact and mitigation of coastal erosion and sea level rise. How land use changes can affect the impact of climate and weather-related events. Local government and community response to weather and climate events Risks and impact of climate and weather events associated with food production. Departmental responsibilities and co-ordination of cross-government impacts of climate and extreme weather, including health, transport, housing and human costs. If you have information or evidence which may be of interest to the Committee, please contact: efracom@parliament.uk Show less