Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 20
20
Accepted
Paragraph: 99
Require Government to publish details on Climate Resilience Board membership, meetings, and 2024 schedule.
Recommendation
Effective joint working is not just desirable but essential if the impacts of heat are to be tackled in a coordinated, holistic and cost-effective way. This does not seem to be happening to a sufficient degree at present in the UK. The establishment of a Climate Resilience Board, under the auspices of the Cabinet Office and DEFRA, is potentially an important development as long as it includes representation from all relevant Government departments, agencies and other organisations, and meets sufficiently frequently. The Government should set out, in its response to this report, details of the membership of the Climate Resilience Board; how often it has met since being established; and its expected meeting schedule in 2024.
Government Response Summary
The government fully accepted the recommendation by providing details of the Climate Resilience Steering Board's membership, stating it has met twice since October 2023 (October 2023 and January 2024), and confirming it meets at least quarterly, with the next meeting scheduled for April 2024.
Paragraph Reference:
99
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
To help drive further Government action to increase UK resilience to climate change, the Cabinet Office and Defra, working with HM Treasury, established a senior officials Climate Resilience Steering Board to oversee strategic, cross-cutting climate adaptation and resilience issues. The Board is convened at Director level with membership from all climate risk-owning departments, as well as No.10. A list of departments who have standing membership is below. Additional attendees may be invited as necessary. • Cabinet Office • Defra • No10 • HMT • DBT • DESNZ • FCDO • DfT • DSIT • DLUHC • MoD • DHSC • MoJ • DfE • DCMS Additional departments, agencies and organisations may be invited as necessary with reference to the agenda. For example, we will include an item from the National Infrastructure Commission in an upcoming meeting. Agenda items to date include embedding climate adaptation into policy and decision-making; NAP3 programme updates; and items on climate security from the National Security Secretariat. The board has met twice since NAP3 publication, in October 2023 and January 2024, with the next meeting scheduled for April 2024. The Terms of Reference stipulate that the Board meets at least quarterly.