Climate change is here, and the UK isn’t ready. But infrastructure owners and operators can play a key role in bridging the adaptation data gap, writes David Smith, fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers
The latest progress report from the Climate Change Committee (CCC) didn’t pull any punches.
Announcing its publication on 29 March, the committee – which advises the UK government on climate policy – said the country was “strikingly unprepared” for the realities of climate change. The report itself found “fully credible” planning for climate change in only five out of 45 adaptation outcomes the government wants to achieve.
Meanwhile, globally, climate change is accelerating. In the same month as the CCC report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that the world is at a critical point. Climate change is already causing “widespread adverse impacts” and despite progress in the past decade, it remains likely that global warming will exceed 1.5C during this century.
There couldn’t be a starker warning to the UK and government that it needs to ramp up its efforts.
The CCC report made several recommendations for the government’s impending third National Adaptation Plan, which it will publish later this year. The committee called this “a make-or-break moment to avoid a further five years of lacklustre planning and preparation” – and they’re right.
Things can only get hotter
The UK is already experiencing extreme weather events, and conditions are going to worsen.
Furthermore, investing in net zero now will be cheaper than delaying. Not only does the UK face compounding costs from ongoing climate damage; it risks missing out on the clear economic opportunities the race to net zero offers.
We need to adapt our infrastructure for climate change as soon as possible. To plan how to do that, we need a clear understanding of its vulnerabilities.
A system of systems
The UK’s infrastructure – its energy, sanitation, transport and other networks – are part of an interconnected “system of systems”.
A failure at one point risks a cascade failure across all systems. As the frequency of extreme weather events grows, so too does the risk of widespread service disruption.
The UK government needs to communicate clearly with industry to identify and prioritise our most at-risk assets. Only when we understand the true condition and interconnectivity of all our infrastructure systems can infrastructure owners, operators, legislators and regulators work together to deliver effective, targeted adaptation measures.
Closing the climate adaptation data gap
A new report by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) makes policy recommendations to improve the climate resilience of the UK’s infrastructure system.
Chief among these is the requirement for infrastructure owners and operators to report on their climate readiness and proposed adaptation measures.
At present, the Adaptation Reporting Power (ARP) under the Climate Change Act 2008 is optional. The data gathered is also mainly qualitative, making it difficult for policymakers to build a coherent picture of where the material vulnerabilities are.
By making the ARP mandatory and focusing on quantitative assessment – including figures for expected damages or losses in a “do nothing” scenario – the government can work with industry to close the UK’s climate adaptation data gap and focus resilience efforts on the most at-risk assets.
How industry can lead
The ICE report also recommends that infrastructure owners and operators use digital twin technologies to understand where and how their critical assets fit into wider systems.
Encouraging industry to adopt a systems-thinking approach is the first step towards a fuller understanding of our infrastructure networks, their constraints and dependencies, and where to target investment.
The appetite is there. Around 80% of organisations invited to participate in the most recent adaptation reporting round (ARP3) submitted reports and featured in the final assessment. To a large extent, the onus is on policymakers to harness that willingness and make better use of the data it yields.
But industry can also play a pioneering part. By proactively adopting data-driven technologies, infrastructure owners and operators can accelerate a new, systems-based approach that will strengthen the UK’s infrastructure for generations to come.
The ICE’s report, How can the UK’s infrastructure system be made more climate resilient?, is available now on the ICE website.
David Smith
Fellow and Sustainable Resilient Infrastructure Community Advisory Board chair
Institution of Civil Engineers
www.ice.org.uk
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