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Climate Change Adaptation in the Northwest. Tim Daley Northwest Climate Change Partnership. What is Climate Change?. Long term changes in weather patterns – 30 year trends. The temperature of the world is changing. Source: IPCC. As is the UK’s…. …and the Northwest of England’s.
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Climate Change Adaptation in the Northwest Tim Daley Northwest Climate Change Partnership
What is Climate Change? • Long term changes in weather patterns – 30 year trends
The temperature of the world is changing Source: IPCC
…and the Northwest of England’s Source: Met Office data for Ringway weather station
What is the problem with Climate Change? • Complex • Impacts directly upon local activities • Impacts indirectly on the activities of suppliers, labour supply and external markets
Impacts in the Northwest • Impacts and Opportunities
What are our options? • Do nothing • Act now • Mitigation • Adaptation • Mitigation – dealing with the causes of climate change - reducing emissions from our current activities • Adaptation – dealing with the effects of climate change – reducing vulnerability to risks associated with climate impacts
Why can’t we mitigate now and adapt later? • 3 main reasons • Mitigation takes time to work…..
Why can’t we mitigate now and adapt later? • Vulnerability is not solely related to climate impacts…
Why can’t we mitigate now and adapt later? • Adaptation now is cheaper than later… LATER NOW £ £ £ £
How does an organisation adapt? • Through risk management • Assess exposure to climate related risks • (or rather the impact of climate change on existing sources of risk) • Decide on vulnerability to those risks • Review options and implement actions • Review implementation in light of changing conditions – climate risks will continue to present moving goalposts
What role is there for the new projections? • How likely…. • Offer the opportunity to your organisations to “quantify” the risk to your operations.
What are we doing in the Northwest? • “Transforming action” in the Regional Economic Strategy (RES)
What are we doing in the Northwest? • North West action plan for climate change • Vision for a low carbon economy and well adapted region by 2020 • Action plan developed by a range of advisory groups and partners • Actions on Mitigation • Actions on Adaptation • Focused largely on building adaptive capacity
What are we doing in the Northwest? • Using UKCIP projections to assess the exposure of different sectors to climate-enhanced risks
What are we doing in the Northwest? • Incorporating enhanced coastal and river flooding into current risk management strategies with partners • Assessing the economic cost of increased flood risk
What are we doing in the Northwest? • Assessing the role for Green infrastructure and forestry in alleviating direct impacts
What are we doing in the Northwest? • Assessing the exposure of our natural environment to direct impacts and the effect on our use of ecosystem services.
What are we doing in the Northwest? • Engaging with businesses through existing delivery partnerships to encourage assessment of climate risk to those activities
What are we doing in the Northwest? • Assessing how the region’s health and health services will be impacted upon
The Next Steps….why we are here… • Embedding the new projections into everyday management of risk