‘Major investment is needed now in both mitigation and adaptation. The first is essential to minimise future impacts and the latter is essential to cope with impacts which cannot be avoided.’
- 'Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change', Defra, January 2006
The National Trust believes strongly that acting now to adapt to climate change and to radically reduce our emissions is the most economically, socially and environmentally preferable option.
Drawing on our practical experience, our policy influencing work on climate change aims to shape Government commitment and action on both adaptation and reducing the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate change adaptation
The UK as a whole is generally unprepared for the impacts of climate change that we are experiencing - let alone future impacts and increased unpredictability.
We are calling on Government to deliver a robust and targeted climate change adaptation strategy to help people and businesses reduce the risks from climate change.
To improve the UK’s ability to adapt to climate change, we have highlighted the following priorities for Government action:
- Government and public bodies to take full account of climate change impacts and the need to reduce emissions in all policy making and investment decisions
- innovative funding and fiscal mechanisms to enable and encourage households, businesses and wider society to adapt, manage risks and share costs equitably
- better public engagement and communication to raise awareness and understanding of the impacts of climate change in the UK and the risks that we all face
- establishing a new landscape-scale planning system better able to accommodate change and protect natural resources by working with natural processes, looking ahead, and involving communities
By focusing on adaptation and the impacts of climate change at home, the Government could demonstrate that climate change is a serious issue, now, for people in the UK.
Climate change mitigation and energy policy
We believe that the Government should prioritise energy demand reduction and small-scale and micro-renewable energy generation as cost-effective means of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 60 per cent by 2050.
We are also drawing attention to the need to tackle greenhouse gas emissions from land and forest mismanagement – not just those from burning fossil fuels. For example, there are huge stores of carbon in our soils, particularly peatlands, yet these have been neglected in the UK’s strategy to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.
Government should also give greater focus to reducing emissions from transport and raising standards for the construction of new buildings – our housing development at Stamford Brook is just one example of how new housing developments can be climate-friendly in their design.
You can find out more by downloading our responses to Government consultations:
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