In the run up to the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow in 2021, the National Centre for Atmospheric Science, the SPF UK Climate Resilience Programme Champions at the University of Leeds, and the Committee on Climate Change jointly hosted a climate change adaptation conference on 13-14th October 2020.
Tuesday 13th October 2020 (Day 1): The science for a 3°C+ UK; projections, impacts, and evidence gaps
10:00 – 10:10
Welcome and aims of the meeting
- Professor Rowan Sutton, Director of Science (Climate), National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS)
- Professor Suraje Dessai, UK Climate Resilience Programme Champions at the University of Leeds
- Kathryn Brown, Head of Adaptation, Committee on Climate Change
10:10 – 10:35
Introductory remarks
- Emma Howard Boyd, Chair, Environment Agency
10:35 – 10:40
Comfort break
10:40 – 11:45
Session 1: State of climate science – Global and UK climate in a 3C+ world
Chaired by: Professor Rowan Sutton, Director of Science (Climate), National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS)
- Professor Peter Stott, Science Fellow in Attribution at the Met Office and Professor in Detection and Attribution at the University of Exeter
- Professor Ted Shepherd, Grantham Professor of Climate Science, University of Reading
- Professor Pier Luigi Vidale, Professor of Climate System Science, University of Reading
- Dr Elizabeth Kendon, Science Fellow and Manager of Understanding Regional Climate Change, Met Office
- Professor Nigel Arnell, Professor of Climate System Science, Department of Meteorology, University of Reading
- Professor Hayley Fowler, Professor of Climate Change Impacts, School of Engineering, University of Newcastle
11:55 – 13:00
Lunch break
13:00 – 14:05
Session 2: State of climate impacts
Chaired by: Professor Suraje Dessai, UK Climate Resilience Programme Champions at the University of Leeds
- Professor Melanie Austen, Professor of Ocean and Science, University of Plymouth
- Professor Jim Hall, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford
- Professor Jerry Knox, Professor of Agricultural Water Management, Cranfield University
- Dr James Pearce-Higgins, Director of Science, British Trust for Ornithology
14:05 – 14:35
Tea break
14:35 – 15:35
Session 2: State of climate impacts continued
Chaired by: Professor Richard Betts, Met Office and University of Exeter
- Dr Ruth Wood, Senior Lecturer in Environment and Climate Change at the Tyndall Centre, University of Manchester
- Professor Matthew Baylis, Chair of Veterinary Epidemiology, University of Liverpool
- Dr Swenja Surminski, Head of Adaptation Research, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, part of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
- Professor Andy Challinor, Professor of Climate Impacts, University of Leeds
10:10 – 10:35
Closing remarks
- Professor Suraje Dessai, UK Climate Resilience Programme Champions at the University of Leeds
Wednesday 14th October 2020 (Day 2): Adaptation planning, implementation, drivers, and limits
10:00 – 10:15
Recap of day 1 and introductions
- Kathryn Brown, Head of Adaptation, Committee on Climate Change
10:15 – 10:30
Introductory remarks
- Baroness Brown, Chair of the Adaptation Committee, Committee on Climate Change
10:45 – 10:50
Comfort break
10:50 – 12:00
Session 1: How likely is it that we can adapt to a 3 degree world, and where might there be limits to adaptation?Chaired by: Professor Richard Dawson, Committee on Climate Change and University of Newcastle
- Professor Robert Nicholls, Director of the Tyndall Centre, University of East Anglia
- Nicci Russell, Managing Director, Waterwise
- Professor Tim Benton, Chatham House and University of Leeds
- Dr Emer O’Connell, Consultant, Public Health England
- Dr Mike Morecroft, Principal Specialist, Natural England
12:00 – 13:00
Lunch break
13:00 – 14:15
Session 2: What are the governance, awareness, data, cultural and political changes that need to be made to enable the UK to prepare for 3 degrees+?
Chaired by: Kate Lonsdale, UK SPF Climate Resilience Champion & University of Leeds
- Professor Nick Pidgeon, Professor of Environmental Risk and Psychology and Director of the Understanding Risk Research Group, Cardiff University
- Professor Rob Wilby, Professor of Hydroclimatic Modelling, Loughborough University
- Paul Watkiss, Director, PWA Associates
- Dr Amal-Lee Amin, Director of Climate Change, CDC
14:20 – 14:30
Response from Government
- Rt Hon George Eustice MP, Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
14:30 – 15:00
Day 2 and conference closing remarks
- Professor Rowan Sutton, Director of Science (Climate), National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS)
- Professor Suraje Dessai, UK Climate Resilience Programme Champions at the University of Leeds
- Kathryn Brown, Head of Adaptation, Committee on Climate Change
