Adapting to Climate Change – ensuring progress in key sectors

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

Telephone: 020 7238 5402
Web: www.defra.gov.uk

Date:         18 June 2009

 

Dear Consultee,

‘Adapting to Climate Change – ensuring progress in key sectors’

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

1. 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 and the new UK Climate Projections1, launched by the Government today, provide us with the best evidence yet of how our climate will be changing over the 21st Century.

2.Changing our behaviour to respond to the impacts of climate change is known as 'adaptation'.  Adapting to climate change should involve making decisions that are sustainable, made at the right time, and which maximise the benefits and minimise the costs that a changing climate presents. Much adaptation will be about changing our systems and behaviour to ones more appropriate for a changing climate.

3. 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 (the Act) 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 is known as the Adaptation Reporting Power.

4. This Government consultation covers 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.

        5. The following documents may be found on www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/climate-change-adapting/index.htm.   

  • consultation document including draft Impact Assessment; and
  • a list of consultees.

6. We welcome your views and comments on the proposals. If you wish to obtain a copy of this consultation please email acc_reportingpower@defra.gsi.gov.uk

Responses

7. Please send responses to either:

                              Rosemary Love
                              Adapting to Climate Change Programme
                              Defra
                              Area 3A
                              Nobel House
                              17 Smith Square
                              London
                              SW1P 3JR                             

    Or email: acc_reportingpower@defra.gsi.gov.uk

8. Responses should be received by 9 September 2009.

9.When this consultation ends, we intend to put a copy of the responses in the Defra library at Ergon House, London. This is so that the public can see them.  Also, members of the public may ask for a copy of responses under freedom of information legislation.

10. If you do not want your response - including your name, contact details and any other personal information – to be publicly available, please say so clearly in writing when you send your response to the consultation.  Please note, if your computer automatically includes a confidentiality disclaimer, that won’t count as a confidentiality request.

11.Please explain why you need to keep details confidential.  We will take your reasons into account if someone asks for this information under freedom of information legislation. But, because of the law, we cannot promise that we will always be able to keep those details confidential.

12. We will summarise all responses and place this summary on our website.  This summary will include a list of names of organisations that responded but not people’s personal names, addresses or other contact details.

13.To see consultation responses and summaries, please contact the library at:

Defra
Information Resource Centre
Lower Ground Floor
Ergon House
17 Smith Square
London
SW1P 3JR

Telephone: 020-7238-6575
Email:  defra.library@defra.gsi.gov.uk

Please give the library 24 hours’ notice.  There is a charge for photocopying and postage.

14. If you have any comments or complaints about the consultation process, please address them to Marjorie Addo, Defra’s Consultation Co-ordinator, Area 7C Nobel House,17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR, or email consultation.coordinator@defra.gsi.gov.uk.

15. Thank you for your help in this matter. If you have any queries please contact us as above.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

Robin Mortimer

Director of Climate Change, Adaptation, Landscape, Air Quality and Rural Affairs
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

 

(1) The Projections are available from www.defra.gov.uk/adaptation

Page published: 18 June 2009