Progress in preparing for climate change: 2019 progress report to Parliament
This report sets out the Adaptation Committee’s latest assessment of progress in preparing for climate change in England, and provides a first evaluation of the Government’s second National Adaptation Programme. The report finds that: The priority given to adaptation, including through the institutional and support framework in England, has been eroded over the past ten years. England is still not prepared for even a 2°C rise in global temperature, let alone more extreme levels of warming. Only a handful of sectors have plans that consider a minimum of 2°C global warming – water supply, road and rail, flood defences and flood risk planning for infrastructure. Many national plans and policies still lack a basic acknowledgement of long-term climate change, or make a passing mention but have no associated actions to reduce risk. This includes aspects of agriculture, the natural environment, health, other infrastructure sectors and business. None of the sectors assessed have yet been given top scores for reducing the risks from climate change through appropriate action.
The UK Government must raise the profile, and strengthen the governance, of preparations for the impacts of climate change. It should ramp up resources and action on all of the urgent risks set out in the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment, continue to take appropriate action for those classed as less urgent (but still important), and monitor the effects on climate risk over the next five year period.
