(c) Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
In today’s blog, Beth Chamberlain, Senior Policy Officer – Climate Change Adaptation, explains how nature can help the UK to adapt to climate change and that it should be given a central role in the upcoming National Adaptation Programme in England.
We are not ready for the warming and extreme weather events we can expect from climate change. The gap between the level of risk we face from climate change in the UK and our readiness to adapt to these risks has widened. With nature at its heart, the third National Adaptation Programme has the potential to be pivotal in helping the UK to adapt to climate change.
Many readers of this blog will be familiar with Net Zero and our efforts to tackle or mitigate climate change. However, far fewer are probably familiar with the National Adaptation Programme in England and the plan to help us adapt to climate change. Adapting to climate change is complex, and establishing clear and tangible targets for adaptation has been challenging to date. As a result, adaptation has often been overlooked and can seem like the elusive sibling of mitigation, but it is at least of equal importance.
Climate change is already affecting the UK significantly. Sea levels have risen by 16cm since 1900 in the UK; all ten of the UK’s warmest years have occurred since 2002; and temperatures exceeded 40°C for the first time in the UK in 2022. Whilst the Net Zero legislation set out in 2019 was a welcome step forwards on climate ambition, even if we stopped emitting greenhouse gases tomorrow there would still be continued climate change impacts for years to come.
However, the UK is currently failing to adapt to these climate risks. Alarmingly, analysis from the Climate Change Committee shows the gap has widened between how prepared we are and the level of risk we are facing. The good news is we have a great opportunity to turn this around through the next 5-year National Adaptation Programme (2023-2028), expected to be published this summer.
The third National Adaptation Programme
The Climate Change Act 2008 mandates that a UK-wide Climate Change Risk Assessment must be undertaken every five years to identify climate change risks and their urgency. This is then followed by the governments of each UK country preparing their own corresponding adaptation programme outlining how they plan to address those risks. This covers themes such as the natural environment, infrastructure and people and the built environment.
The latest Climate Change Risk Assessment was published in 2021 and identified 61 climate change risks and opportunities. This included eight priority risk areas which need the most urgent action, such as the viability and diversity of nature; soil health; and the release of sequestered carbon. Defra is now preparing its response in the third National Adaptation Programme (NAP) for England which is due to be published later this year. Whilst the second NAP hinted at positive actions, it did not go far enough - this time we need a NAP that has a clear vision and gives nature a central role.
Nature and climate change adaptation
Nature can be one of our greatest allies in tackling the effects of climate change. Peatlands in good condition help slow the flow of water during storms; urban trees provide shade and retain moisture which can help cool our towns and cities during extreme heat; saltmarshes help buffer our coastlines and provide protection from sea-level rise.
Nature also needs our help adapting to the changes we are likely to see as the world warms. Climate change will put increased pressure on our ecosystems (for example through causing changes in species distribution or by affecting complex food webs) and it is vital that the government and conservationists alike explore how to help nature to recover and thrive in a warmer world.
Nature-based solutions involve working with nature to address societal challenges such as our need to adapt to climate change and can provide huge benefits for both people and wildlife. They present a significant win-win approach. Analysis by the University of Oxford, commissioned by the RSPB and WWF, shows that nature-based solutions can help address 33 of the 34 climate change risks identified in the latest Climate Change Risk Assessment as requiring more action, including the eight priority risk areas. It is therefore vital that, alongside rapid decarbonisation, governments across the UK adopt nature-based solutions for the benefit of nature, climate and future generations.
RSPB asks for the UK’s National Adaptation Programme
The upcoming NAP has potential to be a game changer in helping the UK to adapt to climate change if it is done well and includes a significant focus on nature. The RSPB have four key recommendations for the government regarding climate change adaptation and the NAP:
1. Put nature at the heart of the UK adaptation response to climate change: prioritise the use of nature-based solutions in addressing climate change risks as part of NAP3.
2. Ensure that environment targets and policies across all sectors are effective for an average global temperature rise of 2°C and assessed for 4°C as per the Climate Change Committee’s recommendation.
3. Include a specific and timebound vision for adaptation in the NAP. This should detail all the measurable actions that the government will take to address the urgent risks from climate change. This will be particularly important for biodiversity, the natural environment and agriculture where little progress has been made to date.
4. Mandate the use of standards for high-quality nature-based solutions (such as the IUCN Global Standard) and ensure delivery is verified and monitored against defined metrics and indicators.
A world full of nature is beautiful, inspiring and essential. We need to recognise the role that healthy ecosystems can contribute to climate change adaptation and it is vital that we ensure that nature is protected and enhanced now. There is a real opportunity in 2023 to set the direction for a better future for people and nature in the UK - we urge the UK Government to make the most of it.