UK's national adaptation programme under fire for inadequate climate response

The third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) has been rolled out in the UK amidst a wave of criticism suggesting that it falls short in providing comprehensive action to tackle the escalating impact of climate change.

The Climate Change Act (CCA) of 2008 necessitates that the government conducts a Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) every five years. The CCRA is followed by a NAP outlining the government's strategies to mitigate the risks identified. Notable measures in the current NAP include the launch of a UK Health Security Agency Adverse Weather & Health Plan, a Local Authority Climate Service, and the assembly of a Climate Resilience Board featuring high-ranking government officials.

The government claims substantial investment in adaptation measures, boasting contributions including £5.2bn for flood and coastal schemes in England, over £750m allocated for the Nature for Climate Fund, and £80m for the Green Recovery Challenge Fund which aims to bolster employment in nature conservation and recovery. The government champions NAP3 as a transformative shift in the UK's approach to climate adaptation. However, the scientific and academic communities have expressed concern, citing the programme's lack of ambition as the ramifications of climate change become starkly apparent.

Professor Dame Julia King DBE FREng FRS, chair of the Adaptation Committee of the CCC (Climate Change Committee), has called the NAP3 a step forward, but expressed disappointment at the government's reluctance to leverage this opportunity to more robustly bolster the UK’s resilience to climate change. Amidst mounting challenges of intense heatwaves, water shortages, and wildfires, she has called for future action to be more decisive.

The argument for a more intensive response has yet to gain traction across the government. King implores ministers to augment this foundation with greater ambition, asserting that the magnitude of the climate impacts observed calls for a prioritisation of climate resilience at a national level.

As extreme weather events such as heatwaves, floods, and typhoons ravage large swathes of the northern hemisphere - from Asia to Europe and North America - the call for adaptation to more severe weather events grows louder. However, Professor Hugh Montgomery from UCL argues that the human capacity for adaptation has limitations, and the only viable long-term strategy hinges on a swift reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions.

Montgomery, a Professor of Intensive Care Medicine at UCL and co-chair of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, notes that climate change impacts over the last three years have been extensive, with increased frequency and severity of floods, fires, storms, and droughts.

These effects, he warns, will continue to escalate, impacting housing, infrastructure, food availability and prices, water supplies, and prompting increased migration. He argues for the importance of incorporating adaptation plans into every facet of UK policy, but also highlights the need for substantial reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions, calling for real political leadership in this endeavour.