ARE WE SPENDING ENOUGH TIME AND MONEY TACKLING THE CLIMATE CRISIS?
According to the Climate Change Committee (CCC), the UK is not spending enough to fight climate changes or its impacts. The CCC is suggestion that investment of about £10 billion is needed annually to overcome the devastation caused by the upsurge in heatwaves, droughts and flooding that has been a more regular occurrence over the last few years.
Not only do we need to improving the countries response to events such as flooding, with better defences, but more needs to be done to stop the problem at source such as insulation of homes in the form of removable barriers on doors and windows, temporary seals for doors and air bricks, one-way valves on toilets and drainage pipes to decrease the risk of sewage backing up into a building during a flood as well as pump and sump systems which drain water from below floor level faster than it rises.
The CCC explains that this would not only protect the UK against the impacts of climate change but also save money in the long run because having the infrastructure in place to deal with issues, rather than stretching emergency services would alleviate the stress on the economy in these emergency situations and remove the pressure on the emergency services.
Baroness Brown, Chair of the CCC’s Adaptation Committee, said: “It is no secret that the UK is now experiencing a range of damaging consequences of climate change but adaptation in the UK remains chronically underfunded and overlooked. This must change.”
“Integrating climate risk into economic and financial decision-making across society is essential for urgently needed investments in our national climate resilience to materialise,” added Ben Caldecott, one of the authors of the report.
A UK government spokesperson said: “We are taking clear and decisive action on climate adaptation including a record £5.2 billion investment in flood defences along with changing building regulations to make sure new homes are resilient to a changing climate. Our Environmental Improvement Plan published this week sets out a range of measures including plans to create and restore at least 500,000 hectares of wildlife habitats as well as deliver a clean and plentiful water supply into the future by tackling leaks and boosting household water efficiency.”