Now is the time to take urgent action on climate adaptation

Responding to the findings of today’s IPCC Working Group II report on climate adaptation, Nick Molho, Executive Director of the Aldersgate Group said: “Today’s report from the IPCC makes it crystal clear that adapting to the impacts of climate change cannot be an afterthought and must be a priority across all areas of government policy. It provides further global evidence of the impact of climate change, adding to the UK’s own climate change risk assessment published in January [1]. The UK and the international community must now urgently accelerate efforts to both cut emissions and improve their resilience to climate impacts. This is essential to protect homes, infrastructure, food production and the resilience of the global supply chains that our economies and people rely on.

Building on the Glasgow Climate Pact, this report is also a reminder to the UK and the Global North that they must act now to deliver increased climate finance to developing economies to support them with the urgent investment required to address climate change adaptation and emission cuts. Tangible progress in this area must be a key outcome of COP27 in Egypt.”

Nick Molho concluded: “Now is the time to take urgent action by backing nature and implementing policy measures that reflect the severity of this report’s findings and minimise the future impact of climate change on society, infrastructure and businesses. Public investment in adaptation measures such as flood defences must be increased alongside supportive planning reforms that encourage climate resilient developments, and policy incentives that can help drive private investment in key areas such as nature restoration.”