For the third Climate Change Risk Assessment, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has asked the Climate Change Committee (CCC) to prepare an independent Advice Report setting out the latest evidence on the risks and opportunities to the UK from climate change.
About:
The Advice Report (this report) provides the Adaptation Committee’s (CCC) statutory advice to government on the priorities for the forthcoming national adaptation plans and wider action, drawing on the analysis in the Technical Report. This report does not summarise all 61 risks and opportunities in detail as this is done elsewhere, but it does provide a synthesis of the cross-cutting issues that emerge from the Technical Report, alongside the Committee’s recommendations.
The Committee’s key messages are:
- New evidence shows that the gap between the level of risk we face and the level of adaptation underway has widened. Adaptation action has failed to keep pace with the worsening reality of climate risk.
- In this advice the Committee identify eight risk areas that require the most urgent attention in the next two years. They have been selected on the basis of the urgency of additional action, the gap in UK adaptation planning, the opportunity to integrate adaptation into forthcoming policy commitments and the need to avoid locking in poor planning, especially as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The Committee also report on the full set of 61 risks and opportunities. These must be considered in the next set of National Adaptation Plans, due from 2023.
- The Committee recommend ten principles for good adaptation planning that should form the basis for the next round of national adaptation plans. These are intended to bring adaptation into mainstream consideration by government and business.
The Climate Change Committee is the UK’s independent adviser on tackling climate change. The Advice report can be found on the Climate Change Committee’s website – www.theccc.org.uk/