The Environment Agency has warned that significant climate impacts are now inevitable meaning everyone’s thinking and action must change faster than the climate.
In the EA’s third climate adaptation report to government, the EA said England must “adapt or die” and as much focus must be given to this as reducing emissions.
The report noted flood and coastal risks, water management, freshwater wildlife and industrial regulation would be particularly affected.
It stated that more extreme weather leading to increased flooding, drought, sea level rises up to 78cm by the 2080s and a deficit of 3.4 billion litres of water by the 2050s must be addressed.
Environment Agency chair Emma Howard Boyd said: “Significant climate impacts are inevitable. We can successfully tackle the climate emergency if we do the right things, but we are running out of time to implement effective adaptation measures. Our thinking must change faster than the climate.”
The report said despite measures that have been put in place more work was urgently needed. It set out five “climate realities” that are galvanising the agency to change how it works:
- The EA alone cannot protect everyone from increasing flood and coastal risks so communities must learn to live with the risks and minimise damage.
- Climate change makes it harder to ensure clean and plentiful water.
- Regulation is not yet ready for a changing climate. It warned that the burden of emergency response will increasingly divert its staff and resources from other activities.
- Ecosystems cannot adapt as fast as the climate is changing.
- There will be more and worse environmental incidents.
The EA’s adaptation approach emphasises the urgency of action required. It noted that investment will be required from both public and private sources.
Howard Boyd added: “Adaptation action needs to be integral to government, businesses and communities too and people will soon question why it isn’t – especially when it is much cheaper to invest early in climate resilience than to live with the costs of inaction.”
The EA’s report admitted that regulation is not ready for the changing climate, saying many regulated activities will impact the environment differently – often for the worse.
Most environmental policy and legislation covering regulated industries is outdated so does not reflect the greater scale of risk. The EA said it will work with government to ensure future legislation and policy can be flexible.
On energy, the report noted that energy generation was at risk of disruption from flooding, while the lack of water availability for abstraction as well as extreme high river flows or severe weather could impact the shift to sustainable technologies.