The case for climate adaptation by local authorities

by Tom Layzell , Climate Adaptation Policy Project Lead at Oxfordshire County Council

As someone who lives in a low-lying part of Oxford that was originally marshland, the recent flooding has been a particularly stressful period?as rivers have burst their banks and ever larger areas of nearby land have filled with water. It certainly hasn’t been helped by the tiresome yet predictable news headlines questioning whether climate change is making flooding in the UK worse and the finger-pointing over why flood defences haven’t been built to protect those areas most affected. No doubt, once the river levels fall again, interest levels will also subside until the next period of extreme weather – whether that’s another flood, storm, drought or record-breaking heatwave like the one we had in 2022.

This highlights the absence of long-term leadership, investment or planning to prepare for the impacts of climate change across the UK over previous decades. Extreme weather events are increasing in their severity and frequency due to climate change. ?While the UK’s decarbonisation efforts remain insufficient, our planning for the impacts of climate change is lagging even further behind and this can be seen through the reactionary response during a severe weather event and pursuing short-term measures that are often ineffective, and in the case of flooding, often just moves the problem downstream to another area. We must recognise that these extreme weather events will only get worse, and prepare accordingly.

Climate adaptation is the term used to refer to planning and preparation for the impacts of climate change, particularly the increasing severity and frequency of severe weather events.

What is particularly challenging with climate adaptation, is the incredibly broad range of climate risks that cuts across infrastructure, health and wellbeing and the natural environment (among other sectors) and the often-hidden interdependencies and cascading effects between them. The most effective solution to the identified risks may not therefore be the immediately obvious one. For instance, while there is a tendency to emphasize the requirement for concrete flood defences as a solution to flood risk, implementing nature-based solutions that emphasize the role of the natural environment in achieving a similar or better result such as tree-planting, re-wilding or using land management techniques to slow the travel of water to the rivers can more cost-effectively protect some urban areas while providing co-benefits in the form of nature-recovery, improved agricultural productivity and carbon sequestration.

Similarly, while demand for A&E departments may soar during a severe heatwave, it is proactive public health interventions, improved housing stock and effective public awareness campaigns that often result in better outcomes for residents and the health system alike than only focussing on expanding healthcare infrastructure.

It is broadly accepted that it is local areas and communities that are best placed to respond to these risks.? Local actors already play a crucial role in responding to extreme weather. As the Lead Local Flood Authority, Oxfordshire County Council is responsible for coordinating the management of?flood risk from surface water, groundwater and ordinary watercourses whilst the Emergency Planning team respond to a range of incidents?across Oxfordshire and our public health team work with local communities to protect vulnerable residents from heatwaves and cold weather. In many cases multiple teams work together to provide a local response to weather events.? But they need to be given the support and the necessary resources to respond to an increasing frequency and severity of weather events.

To identify the best solutions to these risks requires local organisations and residents to work in partnership and tackle climate risk collectively rather than taking a siloed approach.?

An important first step for a local area is to understand what the local impacts of climate change are likely to be and build a long-term plan, along with constructive engagement and discussion between government, residents and local stakeholders on what a climate resilient future looks like?. This is not as easy a task as it may initially sound?due to the complexity and interdependency of climate risks but is a prerequisite for developing a long-term plan.

Generally in the UK there has been very little serious engagement on how we adapt to climate change and what a future society, one that is adapted and resilient to the changing climate, looks like.? Our communities need to work together to protect vulnerable residents, the natural environment, businesses and heritage from the worst impacts of a changing climate.

In Oxfordshire we have begun the process by working with local organisations to understand our vulnerabilities and develop a long-term route-map for how we meet the adaptation challenge. But it will take years of perseverance, effort and investment to realise our ambition for a climate resilient Oxfordshire. We are also collaborating with University of Exeter to enable local decision makers to understand their climate vulnerabilities and maximise the effectiveness of the Local Climate Adaptation Tool, supporting schools to identify and implement climate adaptation measures and leveraging local expertise at the Environmental Change Institute to inform our thinking on the vulnerability of the natural environment.