Government sets out updated climate strategy

The new plan studies the risks affecting communities across England, as well as how they are being addressed

The government has unveiled its second National Adaptation Programme, setting out an ambitious strategy for dealing with the effects of a changing climate.

It follows the Climate Change Risk Assessment published in January 2017 and studies the risks affecting communities across England, as well as how they are being addressed.

It says flooding and coastal threats to communities, businesses and infrastructure are now high risk and are expected to remain so in the future.

The report says the government aims to bring the public, private and third sectors together to work with communities and individuals to reduce the risk of flooding and boost resilience of homes, businesses and infrastructure.

It also suggests high temperatures now present risks to health, well-being and productivity – to mitigate these dangers the government says it will work with infrastructure operators to outline risks posed to their productivity from climate impacts, deliver better quality local green infrastructure and adapt health systems to protect people against the impacts of climate change.

To combat the growing risks of shortages in the public water supply for agriculture, energy generation and industry, the report says work will be carried out to restore natural processes within river systems to enhance water storage capacity and set goals to reduce leakage rates.

In the updated plan the government also commits to introducing a sustainable fisheries policy, building ecological resilience, protecting soils and natural carbon stores and ensuring a resilient food supply chain.

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