The Government must do more to help local areas adapt to climate change, councils in England have said.
The Local Government Association (LGA) asked more than 300 councils in England about concerns and barriers to adapting their services that cover roads, flooding, fire, housing, public health, the natural environment and social care to the changing climate.
It comes after the UK saw wildfires and significant infrastructure disruption as temperatures soared to record highs last year.
The LGA said 93% of councils surveyed identified lack of funding as a barrier to implementing climate adaptation.
Most identified the risk to people’s health from heatwaves as their greatest climate concern, according to the research.
This was followed by damage to critical infrastructure and buildings, then widespread risks from power system failures.
Meanwhile, more than a fifth of councils told the LGA that a lack of data was a barrier in addressing the climate impacts to communities and service delivery.
The LGA has now called on the Government to enable councils to accelerate local adaptation as part of its forthcoming National Adaptation Programme (NAP), which sets out the actions ministers and others will take to adapt to the challenges of climate change in England over a five-year period.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is expected to publish the third iteration of the NAP this summer and it will run from 2024 to 2029.
The LGA is urging the Government to include more in the NAP to raise awareness of how people and partners can adapt to climate change, that it should improve the availability of data to prepare for climate risks in places and that policies and investments should reflect adaptation as well as net zero efforts.
Councils are also urging the Government to release guidance on critical thresholds for different weather patterns, including the temperatures at which different services can change or close, from play areas to libraries.
Councillor Linda Taylor, environment spokesperson for the LGA, said: “The impacts of climate change are going to intensify into the future and councils are warning people and places will be left increasingly vulnerable without further preparation. Councils need support to prepare their communities for impacts of climate change now.
“The extreme heat we all experienced last summer is just one of many effects we expect to reoccur, the year before that we had significant flash flooding. Councils need the funding and resources to adequately reduce the risks to lives and livelihoods.
“As the leaders of local areas, councils are at the forefront of local climate action, they must be made able to protect their residents.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here