Workstreams
The first phase of the cross-Government Adapting to Climate Change Programme (2008-2011) has four workstreams that directly respond to our four objectives:
On this page:
A) Providing the evidence
Aim
Building on previous work, to develop a more robust and comprehensive evidence base about the impacts and consequences of climate change. This will then help individuals and organisations to make effective decisions on how to adapt.
The Programme will continue to work with UKCIP to communicate the new projection scenarios, and will develop new evidence on the risks to the UK and the costs and opportunities of adaptation to address those risks.
a) Evidence about how the climate will change:
The UK Climate Impacts Programme has developed scenarios for the UK, and new updated scenarios will be published in Spring 2009.
b) Assessing the risk of climate change for the UK
The first UK Climate Change Risk Assessment is due in November 2011.
c) Costing the risks and opportunities from climate change
The first national Cost-Benefit analysis of adaptation will be published to complement the Risk Assessment.
Related links
B) Raising awareness, and helping others to take action
Aim
To raise awareness of the need to take action now to adapt to climate change, and help others to take action too. Individuals and organisations need to realise that adapting is an issue that needs to be addressed. Once they have done so, they must be able to find the information that they need to help them adapt. The Programme will:
- work with a range of organisations to raise awareness of the issues
- promote the information and tools needed to take action
- build the capacity within organisations to use the information available to take action.
a) The UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) tools
UKCIP has developed a range of free tools to help organisations understand the risks posed by climate change and make decisions about what actions to take to respond to these.
b) Guidance on assessing the risks of climate change and taking action
The Government is going to provide new guidance on adapting to climate change. This is in the context of its new power to require public authorities and statutory undertakers to assess the risks climate change poses, and develop an action plan.
Because we will produce guidance on how to do this for public authorities, we will also make this guidance more widely available for all organisations planning their adaptation work - whether reporting to Government or not.
c) Action at the regional and local level
The Programme will work closely with regional and local partners to raise awareness and help people take action.
Related links
- UKCIP tools to help you adapt
- Statutory Guidance
- What's happening in your region?
- How local authorities are taking action
C) Ensuring and measuring progress
Aim
To ensure that the Programme is successful in helping organisations adapt and is having a real influence on the ground. We will need to measure real world outcomes, and have ways of ensuring that the public sector is making good progress in adapting to climate change.
a) Measuring successful adaptation
The Programme will look to develop a suite of indicators to help measure progress.
b) The Local Government Performance Framework
The Government has set out an indicator for all English local authorities on embedding adaptation in the full range of their work.
c) The Government's new Reporting Power
The Government has a new power to require any public body or statutory undertaker ( e.g. utility company) to produce a report on how they have assessed and are addressing the risks from climate change to the delivery of their objectives.
d) External scrutiny
The Climate Change Act commits the Government to setting up a new Adaptation Sub-Committee under the Climate Change Committee to advise and scrutinise the Programme.
Related links
D) Government policy and process: embedding adaptation
Aim
To work across Government at the national, regional and local level to make sure the need to adapt to climate change is embedded into Government policies, programmes and systems.
a) Adaptation across Government
All Government departments are looking at how to embed adaptation into their policies and programmes
b) Getting Government systems right
The Programme will ensure that as policies and investment decisions are planned, the risks to public policy objectives and to the efficient use of public resources are taken into account.
Related links
Further information
Page last modified: 18 June 2009
Page published: 24 July 2008