ICE submission to the EFRA Committee on climate and weather resilience

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee has launched an inquiry into climate and weather resilience.

They acknowledge that the UK is facing increasingly frequent and severe environmental and weather-related events, including storms, flooding, heatwaves and wildfires.

These, and other weather- and climate-related events, pose growing risks to public health, infrastructure, food production, and the natural environment.

Climate change is expected to place growing pressure on infrastructure systems, with more frequent and severe weather events accelerating deterioration and increasing the risk of unpredictable failures.

Specifically, it is leading to more intensive rainfall events, heightened demands on drainage and flood defence systems, and making embankments and cuttings increasingly vulnerable to landslips.

The submission responds to a selection of the topics the committee is interested in as part of its inquiry, including:

• The nature and scale of changing climate and weather risks to communities and the economy
• Resilience to extreme weather including heatwaves, drought and increased rainfall
• Resilience of critical national infrastructure including food and water security
• How land use changes can affect the impact of climate and weather-related events
• Climate adaptation and nature-based solutions
• Departmental responsibilities and co-ordination of cross-government impacts of climate and extreme weather, including health, transport, housing and human costs