Comment on National Adaptation Programme

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Press release 1 July, 2013

Commenting on the publication today by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of the National Adaptation Programme for England, Professor Sam Fankhauser, Co-Director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at London School of Economics and Political Science, said:

“It is rather disappointing that DEFRA have chosen to publish the National Adaptation Programme in such a low-key way, given the need to raise awareness about the importance of the UK preparing for the impacts of climate change. Nevertheless, it is good that the Government has published the NAP, as it is required to do by the Climate Change Act. It does a good job of identifying many practical measures that are initially required to prepare for climate change impacts, such as using water more efficiently, taking into account flood risk in planning decisions, and considering climate risks when building vital infrastructure.

“However, the NAP fails to spell out how the Government will provide vital leadership in ensuring the country becomes more resilient to the impacts of climate change. For instance, the biggest direct impact on the UK from climate change is likely to be an increase in flood hazard due to sea level rise and heavier rainfall. The Government has focused on investments in flood defences, while placing greater responsibility on local communities to fund them. More importantly, the NAP shows the same weakness as the national Climate Change Risk Assessment, published last year, which acknowledged that although surface water flooding caused by heavy rainfall, and exacerbated by poor drainage, represents a threat to more homes and businesses in the future, there is a relatively poor understanding of how this will change across the country in the future. Yet the NAP devotes just a single paragraph to this, the largest single risk to the country from climate change. With surface water flooding and other climate risks, the Government needs to provide strategic national management instead of the relying on the current incoherent and inadequate patchwork of local approaches.”

Notes for Editors

  1. The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment  was launched at the London School of Economics and Political Science in October 2008. It is funded by The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment.