Armitt: Public debate needed on risks and rewards of net zero

A public debate is needed on both the risks and opportunities involved in preparing UK infrastructure for the impact of climate change, the chair of the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) has warned.

Giving evidence to the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy last week, John Armitt said ministers must decide what resilience standards are appropriate, alongside a review of regulators’ statutory duties, so that infrastructure operators are facilitated to invest in achieving those standards in the longer term.

He suggested the only way of ensuring regulators place a greater emphasis on long-term capital expenditure, allowing operators to invest for resilience, is for the government – representing the views of the public – to set standards regulators need to help deliver, and to give signals on how costs should be shared.

He said: “As we face the consequences of climate change on our infrastructure, we may have to face up to some unpleasant realities that if we want to have a very high level of resilience and reliability, it’s going to cost us more – and we’re all going to have to pay.

“That requires a conversation with the public about the risks and potential consequences.”

He further explained that the NIC has previously recommended government, working with industry, should publish transparent standards from each key infrastructure sector.

These should be monitored by the relevant regulators, and would set out what standards the public expect and what level of resilience is regarded as adequate.

“At the end of the day,” he said, “we as the public are going to have to pay for it and therefore there is always the underlying issue of what we think we can afford to pay, what we are prepared to pay and what is the level of tolerance that we have for failures.”

Referencing the recent tornados which have blighted the US state of Kentucky, he added that there was probably not an expectation to be protected against “absolutely every instance” and that there will be limits.

The NIC recently began work for the second National Infrastructure Assessment, to be published in 2023.

Its Baseline Report sets out the key areas it will explore in conducting the assessment, including better infrastructure asset management to improve resilience and how data and technology can support this.