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Memorandum submitted by the Environment Agency (ACC19)
SUMMARY
The Environment Agency welcomes this opportunity to submit evidence to the Environmental Audit Committee's (EAC) inquiry on 'Adapting to climate change'.
The
challenges of climate change are tough and immediate. The
Our main points are as follows:
· The profile of adaptation policy has progressed significantly over the last two years, due largely to the statutory provisions in the Climate Change Act and the work of the Government's Adapting to Climate Change (ACC) Programme. · However, adaptation policy across Government remains at the early stages of development. · Responsibility for assessing and managing climate risks must rest with each Government Department, not the ACC Programme secretariat. · We support the commitment by all Departments in the ACC Programme to produce adaptation plans by spring 2010. · We support the Adaptation Reporting Power. We will be one of the first Authorities to report and we hope that our report can act as an exemplar to others. · We note the need for some organisations, in particular local authorities and Reporting Authorities, to receive additional guidance and training on adaptation. · The guidance relating to the proposed new Regional Strategies should clearly set out requirements relating to climate change adaptation. · The role of the Adaptation Sub-Committee is vital to maintaining the required focus on adaptation. · The most effective way of embedding adaptation is to integrate it into existing risk management frameworks and business planning.
1. The adapting to climate change programme
1.1 The profile of adaptation policy across Government remains at the early stages of development. However, it has progressed significantly over the last two years, due largely to the statutory provisions in the Climate Change Act and the work of the Government's Adapting to Climate Change (ACC) Programme.
1.2 We welcome Defra's commitment and enthusiasm to drive adaptation across other Government Departments (OGDs). However, ultimate responsibility for assessing and managing climate risks must rest with each Government Department, not the ACC Programme secretariat. Each Department must take responsibility for its own climate risks and deliver policy, programmes and projects which are adapted to future climates.
1.3 Government Departmental Adaptation Plans will be a key stepping stone in this process. The timetable for producing these is ambitious (March 2010) and Government Departments will need to ensure that the process is properly resourced.
2. Government Departments, processes and structures
2.1 How Government Departments respond
to the challenge of adaptation will be key to the country's success in adapting
to climate change. They are required to do this by Public Service Agreement (PSA)
27 which states, "
2.2 The recent NAO report indicates that some progress has been made, although the stage different Departments have reached varies greatly.
2.3 All Departments in the ACC Programme have committed to producing adaptation plans by spring 2010. Scrutiny of these plans is essential and will help establish what progress is being made. We would recommend that Departments are requested, either by the NAO or the ACC Secretariat, to complete the self-assessment tool on a periodic basis.
2.4 Perhaps most importantly, the
Climate Change Act introduces a continuous
five-year cycle during which the Government must report on the
3. The overall direction for work on adaptation
3.1 We believe that the Climate Change Act, the ACC Programme, the Adaptation Sub-Committee, the UKCIP and the forthcoming departmental action plans provide a good foundation for future work on adaptation.
3.2 The Adaptation Reporting Power will encourage public bodies and statutory undertakers properly to address climate change. We welcome the approach set out in the recent consultation document to ask a wide range of bodies to report.
3.3 However, many reporting authorities are only beginning to learn about their risks from climate change. If the reports are to achieve their potential, authorities must be given assistance as they develop their reports. A process should be established to facilitate the development of good practice and encourage cross-organisational learning.
3.4 For the Government and others to get
full value from the reports, they must be properly assessed and compared. Sufficient
resources will need to be allocated to a comprehensive review process. We also recommend
that all reports are summarised in a single synthesis document. This
document would enable stakeholders to gauge progress on climate
change adaptation, in the
4. Protecting key infrastructure and systems
4.1 We believe there are probably large differences in the degree of preparedness of the many organisations responsible for key infrastructure and systems. The Adaptation Reporting Power will provide clarity on this and will encourage organisations to identify and address climate change risks to their business.
4.2 Water industry
4.2.1 Defra's Statutory Social and Environmental Guidance to Ofwat states that water and sewage companies should consider the "risks and impacts of floods on water and sewerage infrastructure and the greater incidence of more extreme weather conditions that climate change is likely to bring". In response to this, as part of the 2009 Price Review (PR09), water companies have considered their resilience to extreme weather and flooding alongside other risks in their business plans. Progress on this will depend on the final outcome of PR09. The Environment Agency is generally content with the steps the water industry has made in this area, and we feel other sectors could learn from their approach.
4.3 Critical infrastructure
4.3.1 The Pitt Review into the summer floods of 2007 highlighted a number of issues which Government and the Environment Agency should address to help critical infrastructure become more resilient to flooding, both now and in the future. The first recommendation was to increase the priority given to adaptation across Government.
4.3.2 In June 2009, Government published a progress report on delivering the Pitt Review recommendations and the Environment Agency has been working closely with Defra, the Met Office, Local Authorities, Local Resilience Forums and owners of critical infrastructure to make good progress on these. We have provided information on flood risk to Local Resilience Forums on which they can base their actions.
5. Funding, support and training
5.1 Training
5.1.1 To assess their risks from climate change many organisations will need a good understanding of UKCP09 scenarios and outputs and how to use them.
5.1.2 UKCIP's Projections in Practice are an excellent, free training resource to help build capacity across the country.
5.1.3 However, many organisations will need further guidance on how to assess their risks and how to use UKCP09. We believe UKCIP has a vital role to play although their reach is constrained by resources. The ACC Programme should establish how such assistance can be provided, particularly to local authorities and bodies subject to the reporting power.
5.2 Flood risk
5.2.1 Our Long Term Investment Strategy used UKCP09 data to assess future flood risk in a changing climate. It found that if the current level of spending is maintained, by 2035 the number of properties at significant risk could increase by 330,000. To maintain current levels of protection from river and sea flooding spending in real terms on flood defences will need to increase from £570 million in 2010/11 to around £1 billion in 2035. In addition the risks of surface water flooding will increase and require extra investment in solutions such as sustainable drainage systems.
5.2.2 Most of the benefits of flood risk management measures accrue to the private sector. The Pitt Report into the 2007 floods called for new funding approaches so that the direct beneficiaries of flood defences supplement central Government funding. We back this call for new sources of funding.
5.3 Regional and local
5.3.1 The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction (LDEDC) Bill proposes the introduction of integrated Regional Strategies which will combine spatial, economic, social and environmental strategies into a single long-term vision. It is vital that the guidance for developing Regional Strategies clearly sets out requirements relating to climate change adaptation.
5.3.2 The Regional Climate Change Partnerships (RCCP) play an important role in helping regions and communities adapt to climate change.
5.3.3 Upper-tier local authorities now have a duty to report on their progress on climate change adaptation under National Indicator 188 (NI188) of the new local performance framework. We see the introduction of NI188 as a positive development which will drive adaptation work at the local level.
5.3.4 Evidence from our Area offices suggests that local authorities often lack the resources and expertise to deliver fully their adaptation objectives.
5.3.5 We note that the EAC made a number of recommendations relating to regional, local and devolved Government in its previous inquiry into climate change (July 2008). Many of these recommendations and observations remain valid to this inquiry.
6. The monitoring and evaluation of work on adaptation
6.1 We see the role of the Adaptation Sub-Committee as vital to maintaining the required focus on adaptation.
6.2. We welcome the EACs continued scrutiny in this area. However, we recommend that the Departmental Select Committees also scrutinise their Departments on adaptation.
6.3 We agree with the NAO report that measuring progress on adaptation is difficult, especially in terms of quantitative targets. However, we believe individual departments and organisations should set their own measurable adaptation targets where possible.
6.4 In other cases, Government may have to continue to rely on qualitative targets. The process targets used for NI188 are a good example of these. In time, when we know more and the adaptation agenda is further advanced, some of the actions should be developed into outcome targets.
7. Communication on adaptation
General awareness of the possible impacts of climate change has increased in recent years. This has been in part due to extreme weather events, including the summer 2007 floods. Communicating what climate change will mean for individuals and communities has always been challenging.
We have focused our communications on helping organisations and communities prepare for the impacts of climate change such as flooding and water shortages. For example, our Floodwise campaign aims to ensure that people at risk receive appropriate flood warnings and take action to protect themselves and their property.
8. Embedding adaptation into existing frameworks
8.1 For successful adaptation to occur it must be embedded into existing policies, including sustainable development frameworks. Preparing for climate change should now be seen as a key element of sustainable development. This has in general been acknowledged by frameworks on sustainable development.
8.2 However, the most effective way of embedding adaptation is to integrate it into existing risk management frameworks and business planning. Adaptation should not be considered an 'environmental' or 'sustainable development' issue. Adaptation is essentially risk management and is the responsibility of corporate decision-makers and planners.
September 2009 |