Kit England

Kit England is a Senior Climate Adaptation Specialist at Paul Watkiss Associates, where he specialises in adaptation planning, economics, finance and climate justice. 

He has held multiple positions in subnational governments leading collaborative subnational adaptation approaches, including in Newcastle and Glasgow City Region, where he led work to establish Climate Ready Clyde, Scotland’s largest place-based partnership on adaptation. The partnership produced Europe’s first transformational adaptation strategy and action plan and Resource Mobilisation Plan, and went on to influence and shape the current European mission on climate adaptation. He also has significant experience in training and capacity building for adaptation.

At PWA he leads a portfolio of adaptation planning, finance and economics projects, including the finance workstream of Pathways2Resilience, which is developing Adaptation Investment Plans for 100 European regions, as well as providing specialist support to ClimateFIT, which is focusing on private sector. He also led technical work for the UK’s Transition Plan Taskforce to develop new private sector guidance on adaptation and resilience in Transition Plans. Recent work includes exploring the role of the private sector for Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance, and as author to the finance chapter of the UNEP Adaptation Gap report. 

In addition to core work, he has advised the UK Climate Change Committee, ISEP, UNEP, World Business Council on Sustainable Development and the OECD. He is a co-director of LSE’s ATTENUATE project, leading the development of the UK Adaptation Investment Framework and the project’s three case studies.

Background

Kit has an undergraduate degree in Law, and a Masters Degree in Environment, Politics and Globalisation from Kings College London. He has served as Chair of the Core Cities working group on adaptation, and was seconded to DEFRA to advise on urban issues within the UK’s First National Adaptation Programme. He was a contributing author to the third UK Climate Change Risk Assessment’s business and industry chapter and served as an advisor to Climate Change Committee for their report in Investment for a well-adapted UK. He was part of the BSi committee which developed the first set of ISO standards on adaptation. He is also a Trustee for Sustainability Charity, Ashden. He is also a Fellow of the Institute for Sustainability and Environmental Professionals.

Research interests

• Costing of climate change impacts and risks
• Economic appraisal of adaptation
• Funding and financing of adaptation
• Transformational adaptation
• Distribution and equity issues in climate risks and adaptation