Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution

“ADAPTING THE UK TO CLIMATE CHANGE”

• Invitation to submit information
• Study announcement letter
• Press release
• Study selection process

INVITATION TO SUBMIT INFORMATION

Following a very positive response to the shortlist the Royal Commission published in July this year, the decision has been made to undertake a study on “Adapting the UK to Climate Change”. The comments received on the shortlist were substantial and the Royal Commission is grateful to all those organisations and individuals that took the time to share their views. Having carefully considered all of the responses, the Royal Commission noted that there was significant support for climate adaptation and has decided that this is the most appropriate topic for the next major study. Most of the other topics on the shortlist will be kept on the list for consideration for possible future study.

The Royal Commission has chosen this topic because it believes there is an urgent need to understand how the UK should adapt to climate change. The focus of effort has rightly so far been on how to mitigate climate change through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, but the time has come to learn how to adapt at the same time as taking mitigation action. The Royal Commission believes it can deliver significant benefit by directing its efforts at Adapting the UK to Climate Change.

The new study will begin this year, with the aim of publishing a report in 2009. The preparatory phase of the new study will overlap with the completion of the current study on the Environmental Effects of Novel Materials and Applications. In due course the Royal Commission will invite the submission of detailed evidence on specific issues. As part of the scoping phase of this study, the Royal Commission is now seeking to identify the issues and areas it would be most appropriate to investigate.

Background to Adapting the UK to Climate Change

Climate change is unavoidable. To date, the principle focus on climate change has been on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with considerable political effort focussed on what the targets and mechanisms for reductions should be.

Identifying what adaptive measures to take is not immediately obvious. Adaptation should be conducted in concert with mitigation strategies and should, insofar as it is possible, be done in a way that minimises any unintended consequences. It is unlikely that there is a single set of answers, but there needs to be analysis of what the options are to prepare for the future.

The Stern review set a very clear benchmark for the costs of climate change and more importantly the costs of adapting to future events. The need for adaptation is becoming recognised, and features in the draft Climate Change Bill that Defra is driving forward, which proposes that there should be regular reporting by Government to Parliament on adaptation policies.

The Defra England Biodiversity Strategy is focussed on adaptation to climate change, and provides a useful look at how biodiversity could be affected and approaches that can be taken to best adapt to these changes. Events such as habitat loss, species migration and changes of land use are all likely to occur, and actions to address these need to be understood as part of the complex system that is the UK environment.

The European Commission has published its green paper on “Adapting to Climate Change in Europe – Options for EU Actions” (June 2007) and asks whether the EU should be including climate adaptation policy in all of its policy decisions, whether new policy responses are needed and whether adaptation actions should be incorporated into EU foreign policy objectives. It also seeks to develop the research base further, and to involve all parts of the EU in developing a comprehensive approach to adaptation.

The Royal Commission study will investigate how the UK can best adapt to living in an environment where the climate is changing, including what sorts of measures should be taken to protect and to enhance the resilience of the built and natural environments. Examples could include measures to adapt to more extreme weather, using technology to cope with the future conditions of every day living, adjusting the way we use our land, including the management of protected areas, or making recommendations as to how societal behaviours could be modified to cope better with the emerging and changing situation.

Broad topics to be covered

Adaptation to climate change covers a huge range of scientific, technical, engineering and socio-economic areas, and there are equally as many ways of splitting up this topic for investigation. How to achieve this will be one of the first issues that the Royal Commission must address.

Broad topics that might be covered include:

• Biodiversity
• Disease, health and wellbeing
  Water management
• Sea level rise
  Agriculture
• Invasive species
  Transport
• Land use
  Socio-economic issues
• Construction and infrastructure
  Energy
• Environmental management
  Tourism

Invitation to submit views on the key issues.

The Royal Commission is requesting views and information that will help it to set the scope of the study. The purpose of this phase of the study is to obtain an overview of current thinking about the topic, broadly defined, and to gather sufficient background information to enable the Royal Commission to formulate its own expectations for the study, what roles it expects the report to fulfil and what audience(s) it intends for the report. At the end of this phase the Royal Commission will define the issues the report should cover.

The list of issues given above is not intended to be comprehensive or definitive and the Royal Commission would be glad to have other significant issues drawn to its attention, together with views on the specific issues it should investigate. A seminar on the study will be held in 2008 and we would welcome suggestions for the issues on which this might focus.

Responses to this letter should be sent direct to Jon Freeman, preferably in electronic format to jon.freeman@rcep.org.uk or to the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, 5-8 The Sanctuary, London, SW1P 3JS by 25 January 2008.

It should be noted that the normal policy of the Royal Commission is to make publicly available the information with which it has been provided during the course of a study. If you do not wish this to happen with any material you provide, please clearly state this in your submission.