Adapting to climate change

Local authorities taking action

Local authorities are at the front line in dealing with the impacts from climate change - not only for their own services, but also (along with other local partners) as leaders in their local communities.

On this page:

There are already some great examples of local authorities leading best practice in adapting to climate change. For others, the process of adaptation is in the early stages.

N188 Adapting to Climate Change performance indicator

In recognition of the role that local authorities should be taking, in 2008 the Government introduced an adapting to climate change indicator (NI188) in the new Local Government Performance Framework.

The indicator allows authorities and partners to measure progress in adapting to climate change over four levels. The levels range from identifying the priority areas for adaptation through to developing and maintaining an adaptation action plan.

Reporting the results of NI188 for 2008/09

The data for National Indicator 188 (NI188) Planning to Adapt to Climate Change is provided through self assessment by the local authority and local strategic partnerships (LSP).

All local authorities (unitary, county and districts) and partnerships report each year on their progress against NI188. The reporting is made up of two parts:

The matrix including guidance on completing it is available below.

The deadline for submission of both for the 08/09 year is 29 May 09.

Support for local authorities

The introduction of a new performance indicator on adaptation in the Local Government Performance Framework has made adapting climate change a key issue for local government.

To help local authorities respond, the Adapting to Climate Change Programme team, Government Offices, the Nottingham Declaration Partnership, the Local Government Association, Environment Agency, UKCIP and others, are putting in place targeted support for local authorities and their partners in Local Strategic Partnerships through the Local and Regional Adaptation Partnership (LRAP).

About LRAP

The Local and Regional Adaptation Partnership Board was established in 2008, with a three year lifespan. It aims to facilitate action on climate change adaptation at a local and regional level, by highlighting best practice, enhancing skills, providing toolkits and encouraging joint working between local and regional agencies.

The overarching aim of LRAP is that by 2011 it will have facilitated, “at the regional and local level, a robust approach to identifying and managing the risks and opportunities of unavoidable climate change in a co-ordinated and consultative way”

The board membership includes representatives from:

Working in Partnership

The purpose of the LRAP Board is not to dictate what local and regional bodies should be doing in response to the Climate Change adaptation challenge, but to collate and share best practice around the country. In order to assist with this work LRAP has a small budget which it uses to fund research and events in partnership with other organisations.

LRAP is keen to work with existing programmes and partnerships and wishes to hear from any group who have developed work that could be joined up with other regions across the UK.  To find out more click here to contact the LRAP programme manager.

LRAP Work Programme

In addition to running workshops and producing guidance LRAP is actively engaged in the following work programmes:

NI 188 Self Assessment Matrix- This project developed a self assessment matrix for Local Authorities, which is designed to assist them in gauging their progress towards adapted communities. Click here to see the matrix.

To support the roll out of the self-assessment tool, LRAP has been working with the Government Offices for the Regions to run a series of workshops for Local Authorities on how to use it.

PACT- With the assistance of LRAP funding, Hampshire County Council have developed the Performance ACceleration Tool (PACT) to help to identify both public and private sector organisations’ adaptive capacity.

The PACT tool is an online expert system supported by trained assessors, and external verifiers who gauge an organisations performance in 9 key areas necessary for progress in adapting to climate change participants can not only assess what level they have reached with respect to NI 188 but also receive a road map charting areas of strength and weakness and identifying what actions are needed to improve.

The programme is currently being piloted with four local authorities and a business in Hampshire. A report analysing its success will be presented to the LRAP board in June and options for rolling it more widely will be considered.

Adaptation Guides for Town and Parish Councils- In 2007, Defra published ‘Ways to tackle Climate Change’ for use by the town and parish council sector. LRAP is currently funding the development of further materials for this sector, specifically looking at potential climate impacts and how to plan for the threats and opportunities these bring; this will be published toward the latter half of 2009.

Local authority action: Case studies and action - This project was designed to identify examples of local authority action on adapting to climate change. Included in the attached document are 27 case studies, 3 from each region under several adaptation themes. A summary with a few extracts from the case studies is included at the front for those who want a short overview.

Sector  Studies- These  will focus on key adaptation issues for Local Authority  services such as transport planning, emergency planning and environmental health. New sectoral issues papers  will be developed in association with local authority professional bodies. This project is being led by the Nottingham Declaration Partnership and the first sector papers will be published in summer 09.

LCLIP Review- A Local Climate Impacts Profile is compiled using information sources such as local newspaper archives, that enable local authorities to better understand their exposure to weather and climate impacts. It is based on evidence of a locality’s vulnerability to severe weather events and in particular how these events affected a local community as well as the authority’s assets and capacity to deliver services.

LRAP is funding a review of LCLIPs which are either completed or in progress across the UK, in order to reflect upon the approaches that have been used and how these documents are being used. This project is being led by UKCIP and the final report is due May 09.

Contacts and links

For further information on LRAP’s work contact the LRAP programme manager.

Further guidance

The Nottingham Declaration

The Nottingham Declaration is a voluntary pledge made by local authorities to address the issues of climate change developed by the Nottingham Declaration Partnership.

It represents a high-level, broad statement of commitment that any council can make to its own community. To accompany the pledge, the Partnership have developed the Nottingham Declaration website, as a portal for advice and guidance.

The UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP)

UKCIP has developed tools to help organisations adapt. These tools include the Local Climate Impacts Profile (LCLIP).

The LCLIP is designed to help organisations assess their local climate impacts which can be used as a basis for further work in later stages of the indicator.

Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships

As announced in January 2008 by Communities and Local Government, the Government will be providing £185m funding for Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships (RIEPs) to deliver better services and make efficiency savings.

In addition, Defra and CLG have jointly contributed £4m to fund a climate change best practice programme, to be delivered largely by and through the RIEPs.

The £4m fund is primarily aimed at mitigation, but authorities may be able to access the funding for adaptation work where this is a mutually beneficial initiative

Further information

Page last modified: 30 June 2009
Page published: 24 July 2008

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs