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Background In this section of the website you can obtain a summary overview of the key adaptations to current services, assets, communities, business and infrastructure that need to be implemented in response to the impacts associated with projected climate changes across the region by the 2050s. This section of the website contains:
If you wish to view more detail relating to the adaptations within a particular sector of interest (e.g. transport or utilities) or relating to a particular environmental consequence (e.g. flooding, erosion or minewater breakout), this can be found under the section Adaptation – Detail, which provides detailed results under the headings of: Sector:
Environmental Consequence:
Also included under Case Studies are four examples of adaptation in practice.
The principal adaptation strategies to counter the projected impacts from climate change across the region by the 2050s are:
Whilst climate models are available to make projections of future climate (e.g. UKCIP02, EARWIG, and the forthcoming UKCIP08), ongoing weather monitoring and data analysis will prove vital in monitoring the actual observed directions and rates of change in different weather aspects, such as rainfall, temperature, sea level rise, and wind. These data, when measured over the medium- to long-term can provide information about the trends in the region’s climate. This information can be useful in impacts and adaptation studies, and in calibrating model projections to identify whether actual changes are occurring faster than projected. Sharing information about ongoing impacts assessments and adaptation activities will lead to a wider range of organisations thinking about climate-related problems, and solutions to them, in a different way. This will enable opportunities for collaborative approaches to be identified, which can be more effective than individual approaches, and will lead to dissemination and wider uptake of best practice across the region. The present study is intended as a first step towards delivering this adaptation strategy across the region, but needs to be followed by further action.
Organisations and businesses operating across the region, including public-, private- and voluntary-sectors, all need to understand the risks posed by climate change in order to manage those risks suitably to ensure least-possible disruption to service provision or business activity. Some individual organisations based within the region have already undertaken ‘high level risk assessments’ to broadly identify the risks posed to their services or businesses by the climate changes projected for the 2050s (or other time epochs). These, in some cases, have then been further supported by more specific detailed assessments at the sites of particularly vulnerable assets or services. An example of good practice in this respect has been set by Northumbrian Water. This approach needs to be more widespread across the region so that individual organisations and business are better informed and better prepared for the challenges ahead. The development of Business Continuity Plans is a useful means of identify the risks posed to specific services and businesses at an appropriate level of detail, and for developing risk-based approaches to both strategic (long-term direction) and operational (day-to-day) management. Such Plans should identify clear roles and responsibilities within each organisation or business for developing the adaptation strategies and delivering the physical ‘on-the-ground’ adaptations in advance of impacts occurring. Some organisations, such as Network Rail, already develop and implement a Seasonal Preparedness Plan, which effectively is a specific Business Continuity Plan for a particular sector. This enables both immediate and longer-term threats to be identified and pro-active and re-active management approaches set out. With the projected climate changes by the 2050s, other services that are particularly vulnerable, or will become increasing vulnerable, to seasonal changes would benefit from similar plans. This particularly relates to the health service sector which will face different challenges by the 2050s compared with the present day due to rising temperatures in particular.
It is essential that inspection or monitoring of assets is undertaken across the region to identify signs of deterioration that could leave assets more exposed to weather-related damage, disruption or failure under the climate changes that are projected. Where this monitoring identifies signs of deterioration or weakness, maintenance will be required to bring assets back up to a suitable condition or standard of performance. The inspection/monitoring and maintenance requirements will increase over time due to the changing climate and this has clear resource implications for organisations. Inspection and monitoring will be required to cover a wide range of factors, including the identification of weakness in the fabric or structure of buildings or infrastructure, trends in the number of pests or diseases (e.g. sheep ticks, Lyme disease in humans, etc.), and condition assessments of flood and coastal defences.
With the climate changes projected for the 2050s, it is important that building uses are considered and, if appropriate, amended. For example, with rising temperatures it is inappropriate to occupy office space with increasing staff numbers, or to fill computer server rooms with too much hardware without adequate ventilation and cooling mechanisms. Also, with the increased likelihood of winter flooding, the storage of materials in basements should be avoided in buildings that are located within potential flood zones. In such locations, critical machinery can also be raised above flood level, creating an improved threshold levels against damage from flood waters. Significant physical adaptation of existing building stock and infrastructure is difficult. Whilst retro-fitting is possible, it can be expensive and would usually involve a capital project. Examples of retro-fitting include increases to the capacity of sewer systems by replacing ‘weak points’ with larger capacity pipes, or retro-fitting sustainable drainage systems to areas of land development. The Three Regions Climate Change Group’s report Your Home in a Changing Climate provides more information on retro-fitting existing homes for climate change impacts. Rather than being a matter of routine course, however, opportunities for retro-fitting should be identified when extensive refurbishment or major replacement works are required to elongate the life of a building or asset. Physical adaptation can also occur when buildings or assets are being repaired following damage. This is termed ‘resilient reinstatement’ and makes damage-prone assets more resilient to repeat occurrences. Examples include moving electrical sockets higher up walls (above flood levels) when repairing electrical systems within flood-damaged properties. This type of adaptation generally involves minimal additional costs at the time of reinstatement, but large potential long-term savings through avoidance of repeat damages. The major opportunity for adaptation of buildings and infrastructure comes through building adaptive capacity into the design of new builds. Buildings that would particularly benefit from this, especially the in response to forecast temperature increases, include hospitals, schools, care homes and houses. Ongoing programmes of capital investment such as Building Schools for the Future provide an excellent opportunity for incorporation of appropriate adaptations. Suitable design amendments, such as adequate ventilation, shading effects through vegetation planting outside windows, and the inclusion of ‘cool rooms’, can vastly improve the quality of life of the users of a building. Some industry guidance presently incorporates climate change allowances in design. For example, flood and coastal defence designs make allowances for projected changes in river flows and sea levels, respectively. Adaptation allowances, covering a range of hard (e.g. structural engineering) and soft (e.g. landscaping, architectural) solutions needs to be more routinely addressed in all new build designs.
With increased likelihood of events such as flooding, heatwaves and wild fires, there is a need for more awareness amongst the general public so that appropriate preventative actions can be taken to avoid, or minimise, the likelihood of impacts. Already in existence are a nation-wide Flood Warning System operated by the Environment Agency, and a Heat Health Watch system operated by the Met Office to warn the public about the risks they will face. Both of these systems are based around different levels of response, from ‘awareness’ to ‘warning / emergency’ and both enable the public to take appropriate personal action to reduce the impacts they may face from these weather events. With some of the impacts associated with the projected climate changes, it will be necessary to similarly warn the public due to increasing risks, or new risks that they may previously have been unaware of. Particularly relevant here is public information regarding surface water flooding, reducing the risks of wild fires during high temperatures, what to do in the event of a tick bite, and the risks of drinking water from streams, for example.
The region needs to take a national lead in the prioritisation and delivery of adaptation actions. The present report can be used as a catalyst for this, but there remains a need for further, more detailed, determinations of:
The region is already leading on prioritised and co-ordinated adaptation delivery in some key areas, for example through the demonstration adaptation projects proposed in the project Climate-proofing the Cheviots, but this now needs to be extended more widely across the region to ensure greater resilience to the inevitable climate changes. This is a fundamental activity that needs to be led by the regional and sub-regional resilience fora.
As the climate changes, so the response from various individuals or organisations needs to change. Farmers and the emergency services are on the ‘front-line’ of climate change and adaptation has already been essential for financial survival and continuity of service provision, respectively. For other organisations, responses to weather-related impacts may require different approaches, use of different resource skills or numbers, or deployment of resources at different times compared to the present day. Examples are provided below:
All of these responses will require planning and management.
Already, there are some examples of novel approaches being applied in practice in the region, as demonstrated in the Adaptation Case Studies. Further demonstration of the effectiveness of such approaches will help in their wider applications. Also, further technological innovations will be required to help adapt to climate change. Examples of novel and innovative techniques include: demountable flood defences; sustainable drainage systems; tree-planting for shading of buildings; cool rooms in hospitals, schools and care homes; flood water storage and re-use for irrigation or livestock watering.
Whilst some adaptation can take place in-situ with existing assets, longer-term risks from climate change can most effectively be addressed in some situations by influencing the statutory land use planning and development control process. This includes the use of existing legislation to discourage development in inappropriate locations, for examples areas at risk of flooding or coastal erosion. Long-term planning can also be used to relocate assets from at-risk areas. This may involve some form of time-limited intervention in the interim, while arrangements (e.g. funding, land purchase, etc.) for longer-term relocation are pursued. This process can also be used to identify preferential locations or alignments of buildings to minimise future climate-related risks. Long-term planning is also needed within each organisation’s own medium-and long-term plans, enabling any necessary changes in service provision to be highlighted well in advance.
Adaptations need to be made in each individual sector of importance to the region. Many of these will be very specific to the nature of that sector. However, it should also be recognised that through a cross-sectoral, partnership-based approach greater innovation could be delivered. This can involve delivering adaptation solutions across larger-scales than hitherto undertaken (e.g. whole river catchments) and can lead to ‘win-win’ situations. One particular example is the storage, in key locations, of the excess rainfall that will be affecting the region by the 2050s in order to reduce flood risk. This water could then be harvested in the drier summer months for irrigation of arable land, watering of livestock, or fighting wild fires in remote areas. Crucially, cross-sectoral, partnership approaches should lead to the establishment of mechanisms for sharing of resources when responding to weather events (e.g. pan-regional responses).
Climate change brings about a number of opportunities to the region. A key component of the region-wide adaptation strategy must be to maximise the exploitation of these opportunities. The most obvious opportunities are associated with the increased tourism and recreation use of the region that is likely under the projected rising temperatures and drier summers. There is also the need for innovation to adapt to, and mitigate for, climate change. The region’s industries are well-placed to design and deliver such approaches.
Many of the adaptations will be undertaken (or not) within the context of existing legislation, procurement strategies, budgets and other constraints. As well as delivering immediate and long-term adaptation approaches within this context, there is a need for lobbying in an attempt to make adaptation more cost-effective and easier to implement by changing the existing legislative framework. For example, the practical delivery of many adaptations will be constrained by existing resources, particularly financial but also equipment and personnel. With climate change, the investment in these resources will need to substantially increase if the risks are to be adequately managed. This will include greater financial resource to enable the purchase of new equipment (e.g. high-capacity pumps, boats, off-road fire fighting vehicles), employment of additional personnel (increased staff to deal with increasing and different risks), and innovation. At the present time, many public-sector adaptations are being constrained by the rigorous adherence to defined spend profiles within each financial year, as well as ‘lowest cost’ versus ‘most sustainable’ procurement. There could be bigger advantages by accruing monies and delivering a larger-scale adaptation, rather than delivering two smaller ones in separate financial years. It will also be important to lobby central and local government to ensure that adaptation has as much attention as mitigation in policy and legislation (e.g. inclusion in the Climate Change Bill and Local Authority Climate Change Action Plans).
As with all initiatives, it is important to regularly review progress with respect to the implementation and effectiveness of adaptation strategies across the region. If there is a need due to changing circumstances (e.g. increased rates of climate change, technological innovations, etc.) or performance issues (e.g. better or worse than expected) then a review of the lessons learned is needed and a revision of the adaptation approaches may be warranted.
| Northumberland | Tyne & Wear | County Durham | Tees Valley |
As well as the general region-wide adaptations, there are a number of impacts specific to this sub-region. The farmers and emergency response services of Northumberland are on the ‘front-line’ in response to climate change. Adaptations that have already taken place or which have been considered include increased frequency of sheep dipping against ticks, consideration of different livestock breeds and arable crops, flood water storage areas, and four-wheel drive fire fighting equipment to access remote wild fires. Despite such innovation of approach, it is clear that the county is not particularly well resourced to cope with weather-related emergencies and is actively trying to improve this situation by purchasing additional wild fire-fighting equipment, pumps and boats. The release of further funds would enable more equipment and personnel to be available. Under the future projected climate, there will be a need for sufficient resources to deal with the increased likelihood of flooding and other weather-related disruption that does occur. This is particularly relevant due to the rurality of the sub-region. The coastal margin will experience increased erosion and wave overtopping, but in many places such processes will not be problematic due to the relatively undeveloped nature of the hinterland. A key adaptation approach must therefore be to ensure that planning control remains strong and takes into account likely changes in future coastline position. In more developed areas, coastal defence schemes will require inspection and maintenance. Opportunities for tourism and recreation-related business will increase due to the projected climate changes, but this too will bring pressures, such as increased footpath erosion. Other opportunities exist in terms of farming of new crops. In terms of gathering and sharing information on climate change, impacts and adaptation, the sub-region is very pro-active. The Northumberland Strategic Partnership conference in November 2007 addressed the topic of climate change and a video production The Heat is On… was premiered. There is also an ongoing project in the sub-region entitled Climate-proofing the Cheviots, aimed at practical delivery of a number of demonstration projects in the uplands.
As well as the general region-wide adaptations, there are a number of impacts specific to this sub-region. Climate change adaptation needs to centre on providing resilience to the existing drainage system, flood and coastal defences, infrastructure and buildings in this heavily urbanised area. New developments should incorporate sufficient drainage capacity to accommodate increases in future rainfall and where possible should incorporate the latest techniques, such as sustainable drainage systems. Buildings will need to be amended to make internal working conditions less oppressive during heatwaves. This could take the form of natural and mechanical ventilation, or natural shading through tree and vegetation planting outside of buildings. Health services should anticipate increased admittances during summer months due to heat-related conditions, illnesses and injuries. Maintenance and adaptation (or demolition) of existing building stock will be important if the damage to (or from) these buildings is to be minimised. Some examples of how adaptation can be achieved in practice are included within the Three Regions Climate Change Group’s report Your Home in a Changing Climate which provides more information on retro-fitting existing homes for climate change impacts.
As well as the general region-wide adaptations, there are a number of impacts specific to this sub-region. The Durham Cathedral and Castle World Heritage Site will need to be increasingly vigilant in undertaking its structural condition assessments to ensure that the building remains water-tight against the elements to prevent increased incidences of wet and dry rot, and that infestation with wood-boring inspects does not occur. Continued pumping operations in disused coal and mineral mines are important in this sub-region. These activities ensure that the risk of mine water breakout, and the associated pollution that will result, is minimised. Also important is resource availability to deal with flooding, wild fires and other weather-related emergencies. The rural nature of the sub-region makes it vulnerable to such events and a co-ordinated multi-organisational approach will be required. Adaptations that could be considered in the more rural areas of the sub-region include increased frequency of sheep dipping against ticks, consideration of different livestock breeds and arable crops, flood water storage areas, and four-wheel drive fire fighting equipment to access remote wild fires. The increased rates of erosion along the coastal margin will need to be considered when assessing any development proposals in these locations to avoid development that will later require structural protection.
As well as the general region-wide adaptations, there are a number of impacts specific to this sub-region. The industry located around the banks of the River Tees estuary will need to be vigilant in its inspections of the condition of the flood defences to ensure that they are withstanding the increased pressures that will be brought about by climate change. There will also be increase maintenance requirements in terms of debris clearance from watercourses, such as streams, rivers and becks, to prevent localised back-up flooding. Buildings will need to be amended to make internal working conditions less oppressive during heatwaves. This could take the form of natural and mechanical ventilation, or natural shading through tree and vegetation planting outside of buildings. Health services should anticipate increased admittances during summer months due to heat-related conditions, illnesses and injuries. Cross-sectoral, partnership-based approaches are developing well across the sub-region, with the Tees Valley Partnership, Joint Strategy Unit, Tees Valley Climate Change Partnership, and Local Strategic Partnerships, but there is now a need to further engage businesses communities in these discussions.
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