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Government to outline climate change risks facing UK in new report
Government to outline climate change risks facing UK in new report
Government to outline climate change risks facing UK in new report
(35 minutes later)
In a landmark report, the government is to outline the specific risks it believes Britain faces due to the impact of climate change. The report, to be delivered early in the new year, will be the first response made by Theresa May’s administration to a major environmental concern and will have considerable implications for future green policy outcomes.
The government will outline the specific risks it believes Britain faces due to the impact of climate change, in a landmark report to be delivered early in the new year.
The UK climate change risk assessment, the first since 2012, will spell out what the government believes are the major risks facing Britain as global warming continues to affect the planet. Earlier this year, the Committee on Climate Change, a body of experts set up under the Climate Change Act to advise government, said Britain was poorly prepared for global warming. Likely impacts include deadly heatwaves, flooding, and food and water shortages, it said.
It will be the first response made by Theresa May’s administration to a major environmental concern and will have considerable implications for future green policy.
“It will be very interesting to see how much the government accepts this view,” said Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy. “If it does, then it will have to outline – within a year – how it intends to protect the nation. New coast defences, flood protection, water supply systems and other measures will be needed and those won’t be cheap.”
The UK climate change risk assessment – the first since 2012 – will spell out what the government believes are the major risks facing Britain as global warming continues.
Throughout this century, Earth has heated up as more and more carbon dioxide has been pumped into the atmosphere from cars, factories and power plants. Of the 15 hottest years on record, 14 have occurred since 2000. This rise in temperature now poses serious threats to health and security. In Britain, the prime public dangers focus on flooding – mostly in winter – and heatwaves and drought in summer.
This year the Committee on Climate Change, a body of experts set up under the Climate Change Act to advise the government, said Britain was poorly prepared for global warming. Likely impacts included deadly heatwaves, flooding and food and water shortages, it said.
Flooding has already proved to be particularly costly for the UK in recent years with meteorological records showing that six of the seven wettest years have occurred – since records began – from 2000 onwards. Scientists say rising temperatures are heating the atmosphere, allowing it to hold on to more water, which it then releases as bursts of intense rainfall. As a result, more than 5m homes in England – one in six properties – are now considered to be at risk of flooding.
“It will be very interesting to see how much the government accepts this view,” said Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy. “If it does then it will have to outline – within a year – how it intends to protect the nation. New coast defences, flood protection, water supply systems and other measures will be needed, and those won’t be cheap.”
“The problem is that many people still do not understand the risks involved,” Prof John Krebs of Oxford University, a member of the climate change committee, told the Observer earlier this year. “There is a standard line that an area might have one chance in every 100 years of being flooded. But there are dozens of such areas, so these chances accumulate, making it very likely that somewhere in Britain will be flooded every year. This makes the issue far trickier. It is a wider one than is realised.”
Flooding has already proved to be particularly costly for the UK in recent years. Six of the seven wettest years on record have occurred since 2000, and more than 5m homes in England – one in six of the total – are now considered to be at risk of flooding.
The government’s rating of this danger in next month’s climate change risk assessment report will therefore be watched with intense interest. It is estimated that the annual cost to the nation of flooding will rise from about £340m at present to about £620m in 2050 when 1.3m homes will be at high flood risk. Hundreds of millions of pounds of infrastructure work will be needed to tackle this problem if the government accepts this assessment outlined by the Climate Change Committee.
“The problem is that many people still do not understand the risks involved,” Prof John Krebs of Oxford University, a member of the climate change committee, told the Observer this year. “There is a standard line that an area might have one chance in every 100 years of being flooded. But there are dozens of such areas, so these chances accumulate, making it very likely that somewhere in Britain will be flooded every year. This makes the issue far trickier. It is a wider one than is realised.”
The government also faces the problem that extremely hot summers – when people die of heat-stress, and homes and public transport become extremely uncomfortable – could be typical by the middle of the century. This will be a particular issue for hospitals and care homes which are not designed to be resilient at coping with overheating. In addition, many have also been built in already flood-prone areas.
The government’s rating of this danger in next month’s climate change risk assessment report will be watched with intense interest. It is estimated that the annual cost to the nation of flooding will rise from about £340m at present to about £620m in 2050, when it is projected that 1.3m homes will be at high risk of flooding.
There are also fears that extremely hot summers – when people die of heat stress, and homes and public transport become extremely uncomfortable – could be typical by the middle of the century. This will be a particular issue for hospitals and care homes, which are not designed to cope with overheating. In addition, many are in flood-prone areas.
Apart from flooding, heatwaves and drought, several other areas of risk are also being assessed:
Apart from flooding, heatwaves and drought, several other areas of risk are also being assessed:
* Freshwater supplies which could be disrupted as temperatures continue to rise.
• Freshwater supplies, which could be disrupted as temperatures continue to rise.
* New pests and diseases and invasive non-native species of plants and animals.
• New pests and diseases and invasive non-native species of plants and animals.
* Changes to coastlines caused by rising sea levels.
• Changes to coastlines caused by rising sea levels.
* Disrupted trade and possible military intervention fuelled by wars and migration around the world, stoked by climate change.
• Disrupted trade and possible military intervention fuelled by wars and migration around the world, stoked by climate change.
The forthcoming report will be watched with special interest because the coalition government which preceded the current Tory administration halved its spending on measures aimed at mitigating the impact of climate change. The then environment secretary, Owen Paterson, was viewed as a climate change sceptic. The report will be followed in 2018 when the government will outline the specific measures that will be needed to protect the nation against the dangers it has outlined.
The forthcoming report will be watched with special interest because the coalition government that preceded the current Tory administration halved spending on measures aimed at mitigating the impact of climate change. The then environment secretary, Owen Paterson, was viewed as a climate change sceptic.
The report will be followed by another in 2018 in which the government will outline the specific measures that will be needed to protect the nation against the dangers it has outlined.
