Adaptation efforts should be driven from the centre, climate advisers tell UK government
The UK’s climate advisers say the government should drive adaptation efforts from the centre to deliver its manifesto commitment to achieve sustainable growth and improve the country’s resilience.
Dame Angela McLean and Lord Browne of Madingley, co-chairs of the Council for Science and Technology – which provides independent advice to the prime minister and Cabinet – outlined four recommendations in a letter sent on 28 October but published this month.
In the letter, McLean and Madingley stressed that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) must have the support of the centre to help achieve cross-government goals, with all four recommendations involving actions for the prime minister’s office, Number 10, and the Cabinet Office.
They include the setting of departmental adaptation targets, the commissioning of a climate risk and impact dashboard, and responsibilities around climate adaptation-related communications.
McLean and Madingley noted that the UK’s National Adaptation Plan, early efforts to incorporate climate adaptation into major infrastructure planning, and the country’s “world-leading expertise” in areas such as climate risk analytics mean it is “well positioned” to adapt.
“We must now build on these strengths and address climate adaptation jointly with climate mitigation as a national, cross-government priority,” they said.
They added that: “Effective adaptation will require coordinated action across multiple levels, from households and local authorities to regulators and international partners. Our recommendations focus on leadership required from the centre of government.”
Read more: UK government releases research and innovation framework for climate change adaptation
Monitoring and evaluation
The Council’s first recommendation is that Number 10 and the Cabinet Office ensure each department has a set of specific and measurable climate adaptation targets.
McLean and Madingley said they endorse Defra’s work to coordinate cross-government adaptation targets but that “this needs support from the centre of government to ensure progress; overcome departmental silos; and ensure adaptation and climate risks are integrated with all relevant policies”.
They said the Climate Resilience Steering Board should support the monitoring and evaluation of progress, with independent assessment being provided by the Climate Change Committee, and said the Council could advise on targets based on scientific evidence of climate risks.
“By implementing a strong domestic adaptation framework, the UK can demonstrate leadership and influence global standards and practices,” they said.
The Council’s second recommendation is for the Cabinet Office to commission a spatial dashboard that monitors and models climate risks and impacts over time under all scenarios. “This should be used to inform policy and spending decisions to drive progress and ensure value for money,” McLean and Madingley said.
They noted that while the UK has good spatial climate risk data for floods and droughts, its data is weaker for storms, heat stress, wildfires, subsidence, agricultural yields, and biodiversity impacts, and that the country lacks data to track how risk changes over time, and the ability to monitor and model the benefits of adaptation against climate risks.
“Innovation is moving at pace in both the private and public sector to use AI to forecast climate hazards. Such innovation will assist in making a spatial dashboard but does not replace the need for one,” they said.
They said a spatial dashboard could support policy and spending decisions on additional adaptation measures needed, and empower local and private sector stakeholders “to take appropriate responsibility” for risk management.
Read more: Deal reached at COP30 – but omissions steal the show
Residual climate risks and communication
The Council’s third recommendation is for Number 10 to define and communicate residual risks relating to climate change, how these risks will be managed, and how to “navigate the inevitable trade-offs”.
“Adaptation creates co-benefits, such as nature recovery, health and biodiversity, but it also requires trade-offs, including constraints on development in high-risk locations, and up-front resilience costs in infrastructure and buildings that only pay back over time,” McLean and Madingley explain in the letter.
They said the government should “communicate clearly” the respective roles for individual departments, local authorities, devolved governments, the private and voluntary sectors, and households for delivering and funding climate adaptation.
This “should include clear guidance on tolerable risk to communities and the potential for unequal impacts on vulnerable populations”.
The Council’s fourth and final recommendation is for Number 10 to lead communication to the public on the importance of climate adaptation.
“Adaptation efforts depend on national behaviour change, making public engagement critical for success. Clear, honest communication and public engagement from the centre of government is important for ensuring that challenges, actions and choices are well-understood,” they said.
They said public-facing communication should “rigorously describe” climate changes and impacts that are occurring now and that are anticipated in the future; the steps already being taken to adapt to climate change and the benefits that is yielding; and the additional action that is needed to ensure the UK is resilient to the impacts of climate change.
“Adapting to climate change is not easy but through strong political commitment the UK has an opportunity to ensure resilient growth, demonstrate leadership, and set international ambition at COP30 and beyond,” they concluded.
They noted the “costs of inaction on growth, security, and wellbeing”, citing the Environment Agency’s assessment that around 6.3m homes and businesses in England are in areas at risk of flooding, and the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast that if global warming were to rise to near-3-degrees, it would have an 8% negative impact on the UK’s GDP.
About Mia Hunt
Mia has been editor of globalgovernmentforum.com since 2019. She has 15 years’ experience as a journalist and editor and specialises in writing for civil and public servants worldwide, including covering sustainability policy and related issues. She has led the Global Government Women’s Network since it launched in 2023. Previously, she covered commercial property having been market reports and supplements editor at Property Week and deputy editor at Retail Destination. She graduated from Kingston University London with a first-class honours degree in journalism and was part of the team that produced The River newspaper, which won Publication of the Year at the Guardian Student Media Awards in 2010.
