Drought and flood protection are critical priorities for adaptation, CCC finds

(by Karma Loveday)

The Climate Change Committee (CCC) warned that drought, flood and heat are threatening the British way of life as it published A Well-Adapted UK – a new report setting out a package of actions needed to address the growing impacts of climate change.

The country’s independent climate advisor identified better cooling, flood protection and a more secure water supply as the most critical priorities to protect the UK. It pointed out that disruption is already evident and without action, risk will escalate. By 2050, 92% of homes are likely to overheat, peak river flows will be up to 45% higher and water supply shortfalls could exceed five billion litres per day.

The CCC also argued that the cost of inaction is far greater  than the cost of acting now. The Committee’s proposals require investment of around £11bn a year, split broadly evenly between public and private funding. But without adaptation, the cost of climate change to public welfare alone is predicted to rise to between 1-5% of UK GDP by 2050 under a 2°C global warming level, equivalent to £60-£260bn per year.

The Adaptation Committee identified eight key areas for government action: 

• Protect people from heat. Invest in cooling – including air conditioning, heat pumps and green shading – across key public services. Government should commit to a national maximum temperature for workplaces to protect workers’ safety and incentivise the deployment of cooling. 

• Manage flood risk. Long‑term investment in measures such as flood defences, effective emergency response, and natural solutions like wetlands are essential. Annual flood risk investment must rise to around £1.6–£2.2bn each year across the UK to prevent risks increasing further. Government should also manage development in flood-prone areas carefully, avoiding new construction where risks are not adequately reduced.  

• Avoid water shortages. Maintain a strong regulatory focus on drought, scale up sustainable water storage, accelerate leakage reduction and cut demand. All new homes should be water efficient from the outset. 

• Support nature to adapt. Increase public investment in nature restoration and modernise regulation to support ecosystems to survive and thrive under future climate conditions, not those of the past.  

• Keep farming viable. Support farmers with the skills, information and training they need to make climate-resilient decisions. Actions include crop diversification and on‑farm water storage to reduce drought risk and build resilience. 

• Understand the risks to food security. Improve the quality, consistency and availability of information on climate risks across the food system. Government should make the Adaptation Reporting Power mandatory and extend it to large food companies, reflecting their role in food security and price stability. They should also consider the potential for large-scale national food stockpiling.  

• Maintain access to insurance. Ensure the right protections are in place and the costs of extreme weather are shared so insurance remains affordable and available. Urgent clarity is needed on the future of flood reinsurance, including the Flood Re scheme, ahead of its current 2039 end date. 

• Adapt infrastructure to avoid cascading disruption. Design and maintain infrastructure systems to operate safely under future climate conditions, and take a more structured approach to managing dependencies between infrastructure systems to avoid widespread disruption.