Government departments & agencies

Government Departments

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

Defra leads on domestic climate change adaptation policy for the government.

As a supplement to the document Climate Change: Taking Action produced jointly by Defra and Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC), Defra published Natural environment: Adapting to climate change in March 2010.

Departmental Adaptation Plans

Defra also leads on the coordination of Departmental Adaptation Plans (DAP) across government.

Other Government Departments’ adaptation plans or climate change plans are listed below:

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)

BIS works with a range of organisations to ensure that the UK is both resilient to the impacts of climate change and competitive in emerging and future markets created by climate change.

Cabinet Office

The Cabinet Office will consider the impacts of climate change within the annual updates of the National Risk Assessment where these changes could have an impact on risks in the current or short term (from 0 to 5 years).

Communities and Local Government (CLG)

CLG is responsible for the framework of long term decision making on planning and housing, and also has responsibilities for local government. CLG focuses on developing policies which ensure that:

  • we are resilient to current risks
  • what we build is fit for purpose during its planned lifetime
  • we allow flexible pathways
  • the wider work programme avoids unintended consequences and maladaptation

Department for Education

Department for Education has identified four priorities to be addressed through its adaptation planning:

  • increased temperature
  • flooding
  • child poverty
  • capacity building

Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)

DCMS priorities are to:

  • provide its sectors with information, evidence and support to embed adaptation
  • raise awareness
  • provide forums to share best practice
  • continue to support research into resilience
  • implement and promote sustainability and adaptation for the 2012 Olympics
  • develop adaptation plans for its sectors

Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC)

DECC has identified three broad areas arising from the impacts of climate change upon which to focus its work on adaptation:

  • risks to energy supply
  • risks to the integrity of energy distribution
  • the effects on energy demand and emissions

Department for International Development (DfID)

DfID has been working since 2002 to understand and address the impacts of climate change on developing countries. The Department recognises that the effects of global climate change will have serious implications for many countries, particularly those affected by sea level rise, flooding, drought and extreme weather events. There is also recognition that programmes and projects may need to be adjusted to respond to changing conditions and to ensure that it can reach those who need help the most, within the available resources.

Department of Health (DH)

DH has already produced a number of key publications including a major report on the health effects of climate change in the UK and an annually update heat-wave plan. Further work to be undertaken includes work with partners to minimise the impacts of flooding, identifying research needs, reviewing key policy and decision making processes, and increasing staff awareness.

Department for Transport (DfT)

DfT priorities include:

  • stakeholder engagement
  • developing the evidence base
  • embedding adaptation into policy making processes
  • working across government to focus on interdependencies
  • ensuring action is being taken at sub-national level

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)

DWP has worked with the Met Office to gain better understanding of the impacts of climate change on the Department’s policies and practices. This included consideration of the impacts on the most vulnerable sections of society, as well as looking at the way the Department operates and the need for future policy changes. DWP works with other government departments such as DH, DCSF, the Cabinet Office and Defra to join up policy where relevant and to develop understanding through evidence gathering and research.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)

Some of the consequences of climate change in the UK will arise from overseas, and this is an area of interest for the FCO. Global adaptation risks and opportunities include those arising from the human response to physical changes to their local environment – a complex and unpredictable area. The FCO adaptation plan considers long term risks, but focuses on short term actions.

HM Treasury (HMT)

Impacts of climate change in the UK could include disruption to the economy and critical infrastructure, affecting the delivery of public services and productivity. HMT is also concerned about the financial and economic consequences of investment decisions that fail to take the impacts of climate change into account.

Home Office

The Home Office has reviewed the risks arising from climate change that are relevant to its strategic objectives and operation, to help prioritise its work on adaptation. The main areas of focus are managed migration, protecting service delivery, and public order and policing.

Ministry of Defence (MOD)

The National Security Strategy recognises that climate change is “potentially the greatest threat to global peace and security, and therefore to national security”. The MOD Climate Change Strategy sets out a process to ensure that defence capability is effectively adapted to a changing climate.

Ministry of Justice (MoJ)

The three main areas of concern for MoJ with regard to the impacts of a changing climate are protecting its own estate, corporate business continuity planning, and archive preservation.

Devolved Administrations

Northern Ireland

In the Northern Ireland Government, climate change is dealt with by the Department of the Environment. The study Preparing for a changing climate in Northern Ireland (2007) includes detailed consideration of the impacts and adaptation in a variety of sectors.

Scotland

Within the Scottish Government, climate change is the responsibility of the Finance and Sustainable Growth portfolio.

Wales

Climate change is dealt with under the Environment, Sustainability and Housing portfolio within the Welsh Government. The Adaptation Delivery Plan is a component part of the Climate Change Strategy for Wales.

Government Agencies

Environment Agency (EA)

The Environment Agency’s work on adaptation is particularly focused on the increased risks of river and coastal flooding, the growing pressures on water supply, and the impacts on biodiversity. Key functions at the Environment Agency have their own adaptation action plans for key functions and an Agency-wide adaptation programme is being developed.

Natural England (NE)

Natural England’s work is particularly focused on the challenges that climate change presents for ecosystems, ecosystem services, biodiversity and landscape. NE’s work includes assessing vulnerability of the natural environment to climate change, research and development on resilience to climate change, and using schemes such as Environmental Stewardship to enhance the delivery of adaptation measures. Natural England also focuses on aspects of ecosystem services that help society adapt to a changing climate, such as urban cooling from Greenspace and flood defence through strategic development of wetlands. Natural England is also monitoring environmental change through longitudinal studies of high value conservation sites.

Adaptation sub-committee (ASC)

The Adaptation Sub-Committee (ASC) is a sub-committee of the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), established under the Climate Change Act 2008. The ASC provides expert advice and scrutiny through the CCC to ensure that the Government’s programme for adaptation enables the UK to prepare effectively for the impacts of climate change.

Committee on Climate Change (CCC)

The Committee on Climate Change is an independent body established under the Climate Change Act (2008). They advise the UK Government on setting and meeting carbon budgets and on preparing for the impacts of climate change.

Climate Change Act (2008)

The Climate Change Act 2008 sets the legal framework for adaptation policy in the UK.