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Memoranda
submitted by the
RESPONSE TO 'ADAPTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE' ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT COMMITTEE INQUIRY 2009
1. The Woodland Trust welcomes the opportunity
to submit evidence. The Trust is the 2. We believe the natural environment is not an optional tool for adaptation
of our society and economy but a prerequisite. As such, successful adaptation should be
measured in terms of environmental outcomes.
The model of sustainable development which balances environment, society and economy, but in
reality sees the environment largely as a constraint to economic development,
is undermined by the empirical evidence of recent decades. Climate change adaptation must consider the
vulnerability of the natural environment and consider how society and the
economy need to change to make it resilient. 3. We endorse the England Biodiversity
Strategy (EBS) Climate Change Adaptation Principles[1]
aimed at people responsible for delivering actions across a wide range of
sectors: agriculture; water and wetlands; woodland and forestry; towns, cities
and development; coasts and seas. 4. The Climate
Change Act directs focus towards identifying, mitigating and managing
risks. We believe that priority should
be given across government to identifying win-win solutions and ensuring
cross-sectoral knowledge transfer. This
demands more joined-up government both within departments, such as Defra, and
between departments. The challenge is to
develop an overall land-use strategy that integrates the needs of biodiversity
and 'productive' land uses (e.g. agriculture and forestry, in particular, but
also housing and infrastructure). This should
look beyond zoning land, into 'productive' and 'conservation', to more
convergent land uses where biodiversity is a fundamental building-block for
other activities. 5. By working with nature, there are
opportunities to deliver resilient landscapes able to absorb and respond to
changes while sustaining biodiversity and ecosystem goods and services in both
rural and urban areas. This demands
intelligent use of an ecosystem approach. Ecosystem services cannot be described through
a reductionist view of 'cause and effect'.
They are the result of complex and dynamic ecosystems that determine
emergent services. It also requires that
the needs of individual landowners are matched with the wider needs of society. 6. The urgency to act for adaptation is
illustrated by the time it takes for a tree to grow. New approaches need to be piloted at a large
scale, within a time period commensurate with the challenge. If this is to happen, cultural and
institutional barriers need to be addressed without delay. Government departments appear to take simple
short-term actions while awaiting greater certainty. There is a need to embrace uncertainty and
make strategic decisions addressing the full range of variation in projected
changes and their impacts. Integrated
adaptation that works with nature makes sense irrespective of the speed, scope,
scale and direction of climate change. 7. Those actions that take longest to bear fruit
must be undertaken now. For example, the
8. The Government's 'UK Low Carbon Transition Plan' published in 2009[3] highlighted that creation of 10,000 hectares of woodland per year could remove up to 50 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2050 and deliver substantial benefits for adaptation. We would warmly welcome this as a step in the right direction, if it is native woodland. The challenge for government is to catalyse action. Government departments and statutory agencies, regard woods and trees as the responsibility of the Forestry Commission (FC). However, inadequate resources and a desire to promote woodland management within Forestry Commission England (FCE) tend to focus its attention on existing woodland. Meanwhile, other departments (including Defra) have yet to fully grasp the range of cost-effective opportunities that new woodland and trees could deliver simultaneously for numerous contemporary policy challenges and simply wait for FCE to take action.
9. Written evidence is provided below
specifically in relation to each of the areas identified in the Environmental
Audit Committee's press notice. 10. The extent to which the Adapting to Climate
Change Programme (ACC Programme) will increase resilience by
embedding adaptation and climate change risk assessment into the work of
Government Departments 10.1. The ACC Programme is directed by a
Programme Board with senior representatives from Government departments. Defra provides the delivery team. Responsibility for embedding adaptation into
policies rests with individual Government departments. We are concerned opportunities are being lost
to: identify joined-up solutions; engender common understanding and commitment
to delivery; and minimise additional costs of integrated adaptation. 10.2. The degree to which Government
departments are working in isolation of one another may be typified by the Defra
project, 'Developing a Strategic Framework: The Natural Environment - Adapting
to Climate Change'. A welcome
development is that Defra has established a project partners group "to ensure
that the project is able to draw on the significant existing expertise in both
policy and delivery; to ensure that key partners have an opportunity to influence
the developing framework; to enable the project team to test emerging
conclusions and recommendations".
However, the group lacks representation from other departments. It includes representatives from the
Government Office Network, Regional Development Agencies, Local Government
Association and English National Park Authorities Association and otherwise
only comprises the usual suspects from Natural England (NE), Environment Agency
(EA), FCE, Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and environmental NGOs. 11. The extent to which Government departments
have identified the risks from a changing climate that will stop them meeting
their objectives 11.1. Progress with Defra's project above
demonstrates understanding of the potential direct and indirect impacts of
climate change identified by the environmental sector. However, climate change will bring indirect
impacts to Defra's interests through changes in socio-economic drivers, working
practices, cultural values, policies and use of land and other resources
relevant to other departments. Due to
their scale, scope and speed many could be more damaging to the natural
environment than direct impacts. This
reinforces the need for wide consultation and cross-departmental assessment,
for example, in relation to planning. 11.2. FCE consulted widely within the
forestry sector on a delivery plan for 12. The suitability of the processes and
structures in and across Government departments for identifying, mitigating and
managing these risks and determining the future priorities of central
government's approach to adaptation (and the National Adaptation Programme) 12.1. The EBS[6] is a Government
strategy, prepared in partnership with a broad range of stakeholders in the
public, voluntary and private sectors.
It sets out a series of actions for government and its partners to make
biodiversity a fundamental consideration across public policy. It has significant potential to promote
adaptation to climate change. However, strategy implementation groups have
made limited progress in reviewing delivery against the EBS Climate Change
Adaptation Principles. Defra should
allocate greater resources to the implementation of the Strategy. 12.2. It would be helpful if there was
greater join-up between 13. How well the overall direction for work on
adaptation has been set, the effectiveness of the statutory framework
(including the use of the Reporting Power and its accompanying statutory
guidance), the allocation of powers and duties and how well are issues like
social justice addressed in adaptation policies 13.1. The Reporting Power and accompanying statutory guidance is
focused on key organisations responsible for infrastructure and essential
services and those likely to be particularly vulnerable to climate change
impacts. We believe it is vital that
authorities that have a key role in adaptation across sectors should also be directed
to report to the Secretary of State. Although
NE and FCE are 'to be invited to report', we believe they should be directed to
do so. Both have a key role to play in
adaptation, as identified in Defra's recent consultation document[7]. It highlights that FCE recognises that
climate change adaptation is 'vital both to its own estate and its
responsibilities for privately-owned forestry'.
While this is true, FCE also has a vital role to play in promoting
establishment of new woodland and trees through delivery of the ETWF Strategy. 13.2. Issues such as airport expansion and planning will have a
significant impact on climate change adaptation meaning that environmental
duties need to be at the centre of Government decisions. The decision to expand Heathrow stands in
stark contrast to the leadership the 13.3. The creation of community woods and conservation
of green spaces can deliver on social justice and climate change adaptation. There are strong links between a lack of
urban green space and social deprivation, poor health outcomes and crime. Multi-functional green space can alleviate
flooding and improve air and soil quality.
14. Whether short-term priorities for action,
including identifying and protecting key infrastructure and systems (for
example power, food, water, transport infrastructure, defence and security), have
been identified and how these are or might be addressed 14.1. Our natural environment is the key
infrastructure underpinning a wide range of ecosystem services on which we all
depend. Despite being one of the least
wooded countries in 14.2. Government needs to exemplify integrated adaptation on its
estate, if it is to help catalyse appropriate working practices, use of land
and other resources across the public and private sectors. For example, government should identify land
on its estate where establishing new woodland and trees would deliver a wider
range of ecosystem goods and services than currently. 15. The funding, support, training and other
resources available, including at a local and regional level, for: 15.1. building capacity to adapt to climate change 15.1.1. Substantial expansion of 15.1.2. The UK Low Carbon Transition
Plan, which highlights the benefits of large-scale woodland creation is
backed by a commitment that, "The Government will support a new drive to
encourage private funding for woodland creation. This will allow businesses and individuals to
help the 15.1.3. FCE grants for woodland creation are focused on access and wildlife,
not ecosystem services more generally.
They are insufficient to attract private investment and are too
inflexible. Rates of woodland creation
have fallen since 2005 from 5,000ha to 2,000ha per annum. Woodland creation has been successfully
promoted in the National Forest to bring about landscape-scale change. The National Forest Tender Scheme and
Landscape Change Scheme exemplify the flexibility and size of grants (£5-6,000
per ha) required that cover the true costs. 15.1.4. FCE needs to promote woodland creation more strongly across government. At present, other departments (including
Defra) remain insufficiently aware of the cost-effective opportunities that new
woodland and trees could deliver for their outcomes. 15.1.5. In continuing to develop a more robust and comprehensive
evidence base of the potential impacts and consequences of climate change, it
is vital that inter-disciplinary cross-departmental research is steered and
funded by relevant stakeholders. It is
also important to recognise that uncertainty may be the only certainty. There is a danger that the UK Climate
Projections (UKCP09)[9]
may encourage people to focus on 'preferred futures', which may never come
true, rather than embrace all possible scenarios. 15.1.6. Defra is researching individual
case studies to inform policy options and best practice for adaptation. They are likely to focus on land in
public/conservation ownership, as other more integrative landscape-scale
projects are only just being initiated in the 15.2. specific actions to adapt to climate
change, such as investment in flood risk management or the resilience of
critical national infrastructure 15.2.1. Semi-natural
habitats could play a major role in delivery of the Water Framework Directive
and Floods Directive. For example, models
suggest creation of new woodland spanning major bottlenecks on floodplains
could absorb and delay major flood events.
Creating riparian woodland buffers could reduce water temperatures
substantially (important for Salmonid fish), and reduce pollutants and soil
erosion by greater than 90 per cent[10]. However, cultural inertia within the Environment
Agency favours hard-engineering solutions and demands quantification of such
benefits at a catchment scale. This
leads to a 'chicken and egg' situation, which inhibits implementation of "new
approaches ...... piloted and monitored at a large scale and within a time period
commensurate with the challenge"[11]. Other countries have been far more proactive
in establishing trees and woods to alleviate flooding (e.g. 15.3. helping individuals and
organisations conduct their own climate change risk assessments and judge what
actions they need take 15.3.1. Vulnerability
assessment is the first step many environmental organisations are taking in
relation to adaptation at a European, national, regional or local scale. Recent years have seen an explosion in
academic research and delivery projects looking at vulnerability assessments.
There are a myriad of approaches and the terminology is subject to a variety of
meanings and confusion. While the many methodologies adopted provide a rich
vein for ideas, it could lead to different interpretations of vulnerabilities and
unnecessary conflict. This could act as
a barrier to the understanding and engagement of managers of land and other
resources vital to adaptation of the natural environment. The EBS Climate Change Adaptation workstream
has identified that it would be timely and helpful to synthesise the different
approaches to assessing vulnerability of biodiversity and associated ecosystem
goods and services. A review has
recently been initiated. 16. The monitoring and evaluation of work on
adaptation, including thoughts on how progress on adaptation can be quantified
and success measured 16.1. As we believe the natural
environment is not a tool for adaptation but a prerequisite, in our
view, successful adaptation should lead to: 16.1.1. No further loss of ancient and other
irreplaceable wildlife habitats. 16.1.2. Restoration of all ancient and other
semi-natural habitats planted with non-native conifers. 16.1.3. Increasingly permeable landscapes that allow as many species as
possible to adapt and move in response to change, as measured by the UK
Biodiversity Indicator of habitat connectivity[12]. 16.1.4. An increase in trees outside of woods, including urban tree cover. 17. The effectiveness of communication within and between departments; and
between government, local government, business and the general public on
adaptation 17.1. Local authorities have to report the level of preparedness they have reached, as identified in National Indicator 188[13] 'Planning to Adapt to Climate Change', which is a process-based indicator. The guidance notes claim "our understanding of the adaptation agenda is not yet sufficient to specify outcomes, but also that climate impacts are local and it is impossible to have a generic outcome indicator at the moment which is applicable to all areas". This belies a temptation to identify complex indicators that explicitly link facets of the natural environment with the delivery of specific ecosystem services. We believe such a reductionist approach should be avoided. We advocate that the outcomes identified in 16.1 (above) should be adopted as indicators at national and local levels, in addition to NI 188.
17.2. The economic climate demands that government packages climate change adaptation innovatively, as a component of Public Service Agreements and as a cost effective strategy that delivers business benefits.
17.3. Government should engage with partners, rather than take the lead, in
communicating adaptation to private landowners and a wider public. 18. Whether work on adaptation should be embedded into existing sustainable
development frameworks and, if so, how this might be achieved 18.1. This makes sense providing commitments on the natural environment are not watered down. Central government, local authorities and the private sector would all need to be clear what 'sustainable development' means, as its definition varies wildly.
18.2. Moreover, adaptation to climate change (and with it, protection and expansion of semi-natural habitats, including woodland and trees) should be incorporated into Planning Policy Statement (PPS) 1, 'Sustainable Development', and the revised PPS 9, 'Biodiversity and Geological Conservation'.
October 2009 [1]
Smithers, R.J., Cowan, C., Harley, M., Hopkins,
J.J., Pontier, H., Watts, O. (2008) [2] Forestry Commission (2009) Forestry statistics 2009. Downloaded at: http://www.forestry.gov.uk/statistics [3]
DECC(2009) The
[4]
Forestry Commission (2008) A delivery plan for [5]Forestry Commission (2009) Forests and Climate Change Guidelines. Downloaded at: www.forestry.gov.uk/ukfs [6]
Defra (2002) Working with the grain of nature: a
biodiversity strategy for [7] Defra (2009) Consultation on the Adaptation Reporting Power in the Climate Change Act 2008. Downloaded at http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/climate-change-adapting/index.htm [8] Britt, C. & Johnston, M (2008) Trees in Towns II. A new survey of urban trees, their condition and management. DCLG. Downloaded at: http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/treesintownsii [9]
Murphy, J. et
al. (2009) [10]
Calder, I.R.,
Harrison, J., Nisbet, T.R. & Smithers, R.J. (2008) [11]
Smithers, R.J., Cowan, C., Harley, M., Hopkins,
J.J., Pontier, H., Watts, O. (2008) [12] The UK Biodiversity Partnership (2009) UK Biodiversity Indicators in your pocket 2009. Defra. Downloaded at: http://www.jncc.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=4229 [13] Local and Regional Partnership Board (2008) Adapting to Climate Change: Guidance notes for NI188. Downloaded at: http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/core/page.do?pageId=1382860 |