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Adapting to Climate Change – ensuring progress in key sectors

Consultation on the Adaptation Reporting Power in the Climate Change Act 2008

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing society today.  We must avoid making the problem worse, so cutting emissions is an absolute priority, but we already face continued global warming over many decades to come that will impact on the UK. So we must be prepared for a changing climate.  The new UK Climate Projections provide us with the best evidence yet of how our climate will be changing over the 21st Century. 

Changing our behaviour to respond to the impacts of climate change is known as 'adaptation'. 

Adaptation needs to be built into planning and risk management now to ensure the continued and improved success of businesses, Government policies and social and environmental operations.

The Climate Change Act 2008 gave the Government a power to ask public sector organisations, and statutory undertakers (such as energy and water companies) to report on their assessment of the risks climate change poses to them, and the actions they are going to take in response. This power is known as the Adaptation Reporting Power. 

A consultation on the strategy for the use of the power ran from the 18 June until the 9 September. The consultation covered the main questions about the proposed use of the new power:

  • who should report? : the proposed strategy for using the reporting power including the proposed list of priority reporting authorities;
  • what needs to be done? : a draft Direction to authorities;
  • how should it be done?:  draft Statutory Guidance to reporting authorities; and
  • what are the costs and benefits?: an Impact Assessment, forecasting the costs and benefits associated with the proposals.

64 responses were received from a wide range of sectors. These responses are currently being analysed. A summary of the responses and a revised strategy will be published online in November.

Further information

Page published: 28 September 2009