Adaptation efforts ‘inadequate’, says Climate Change Committee

Under the 2008 Climate Change Act, a new NAP (National Adaptation Plan) must be produced every five years, with the CCC assessing progress every two years. Responding to the government’s Third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3), published in July 2023, the CCC’s independent assessment claimed the document was an ‘inadequate response’ to the challenges the country is facing.

Against the backdrop of the warmest February on record, the CCC said NAP3 fails to provide a ‘credible vision’ of a future where the UK can adapt to the changes in climate already impacting British people and businesses. The committee said that the status of the NAP within government is too low and must be boosted to align with ‘the gravity of known climate risks in the UK’.

“The evidence of the damage from climate change has never been clearer, but the UK’s current approach to adaptation is not working,” said Baroness Brown, chair of the Adaptation Committee.