The UK must urgently invest in cooling, flood protection and water security or face mounting climate damage across homes, hospitals, farms and infrastructure.
That’s the warning from the Climate Change Committee – government’s independent climate advisers- who said the country is already being hit by heat, flooding and drought but warned the risks will become far more severe without faster adaptation.
Its new report, A Well-Adapted UK, sets out a major package of measures designed to protect people, public services, food supplies and the economy from worsening climate impacts.
The CCC warned that by 2050 around 92% of homes could overheat, peak river flows could be up to 45% higher and water supply shortfalls could exceed five billion litres a day.
The committee said the cost of acting now would be around £11bn a year, split broadly between public and private investment.
But it warned the cost of failing to adapt could reach between 1% and 5% of UK GDP by 2050 under 2°C of global warming, equivalent to £60bn to £260bn a year.
The report identifies eight priority areas for ministers including protecting people from heat, managing flood risk, avoiding water shortages, supporting nature and keeping farming viable.
It also calls for stronger action on food security, affordable insurance and climate-proofing transport, energy and telecoms infrastructure.
Baroness Brown, chair of the Adaptation Committee, said: “Our lives, our landscapes and our homes are under increasing pressure from the changing climate. But we are not powerless.
“The solutions already exist, and proven technologies are available now to help the UK adapt effectively.”
The CCC said the government should invest in cooling across public services including hospitals, care homes, nurseries and schools.
It also urged ministers to consider a national maximum workplace temperature to protect staff during extreme heat.
On flooding, the committee said annual investment must rise to around £1.6bn to £2.2bn a year across the UK to prevent risks increasing further.
It also warned development in flood-prone areas must be handled more carefully with new construction avoided where risks cannot be properly reduced.
The report calls for more water storage, faster leakage reduction and tougher standards so all new homes are water efficient from the outset.
It also says farmers need better support to manage drought, diversify crops and invest in on-farm water storage.
Baroness Brown said: “The public want to see change and the government now has an opportunity to step up and protect our way of life.”
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