Download written statement - National Assembly for Wales

WRITTEN STATEMENT
BY
THE WELSH GOVERNMENT
TITLE
The publication of the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment
Evidence Report
DATE
15 July 2016
BY
Lesley Griffiths AM of Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural
Affairs
The historical Paris Agreement of December, 2015 secured an international agreement
aimed at limiting global climate change to two degrees Celsius, to avoid long term
irreversible climate change. Whilst it is essential we reduce greenhouse gas emissions to
limit further climate change, it is also crucial we prepare for the inevitable changes which will
result from the emissions already released. Therefore, I welcome the publication of the
Adaptation Sub Committee’s new independent evidence report to Government, which
focuses on the risks from climate change across the UK.
The Climate Change Risk Assessment received from the Adaptation Sub Committee to the
UK Committee on Climate Change, shows climate change is very real and we need to start
preparing here and now. Extreme weather events demonstrate we are already vulnerable
to the current weather and climate and going forward these types of risks are going to
increase over time.
The Wales report 1highlights the risks to our economy, communities and environment from
flooding and heat. These risks are to our homes and communities and to our infrastructure,
such as roads, rail and the water supply we depend on. Our land, habitats and agricultural
businesses are also at risk. All of these areas provide the foundations of our well being and
quality of life in Wales.
This is why the Welsh Government has already linked this important evidence base through
the Well-being of Future Generations Act, to ensure public services (including the Welsh
Government) take into account the long term risks, when planning for their future. The aim
is to ensure we maintain key service delivery and avoid unnecessary costs in the context of
decreasing public subsidy.
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https://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/UK-CCRA-2017-Wales-National-Summary.pdf
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In my portfolio, I am already integrating climate resilience in the way we manage our natural
resources. The Environment Act puts in place legislation to strengthen the health of our
natural resources to both reduce and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
We are continuing to invest in flood and coastal risk management, spending over £55
million this year on reducing risk and maintaining existing assets in order they remain
resilient to climate change. This includes commencing major new work in St Asaph,
Newport, the Vale of Glamorgan, Porthcawl and the A55 at Tal-y-Bont, Gwynedd which I
visited last week. Once completed, these schemes will reduce risk from flooding to over
3500 properties, as well as protecting key infrastructure.
In addition, our investment in the Coastal Risk Management Programme acknowledges the
growing risk of climate change and sea level rise by planning ahead. £150 million will be
invested in this programme between 2018 and 2022, delivered by Local Authorities to build
resilience around the whole of the Welsh coastline. Preparatory work has begun and is
being fully funded this year.
The water sector has invested significantly and successfully over the last 25 years in our
sewerage and drainage systems, delivering for customers some of the best water quality in
our rivers and seas. However, we now face unprecedented challenges, including those
from climate change.
We are working closely with water industry representatives through the 21st century
drainage programme, to consider ways of providing more resilient urban drainage systems
which are fit for the challenges posed by climate change. To ensure we have robust and
resilient water resources, we are looking at reforming the abstraction licensing system in
Wales. The abstraction licensing system also includes a number of historic exemptions
which allow unconstrained water abstraction for certain purposes. In order to manage water
resources to meet the challenges of climate change, we will bring these abstractions into
the licensing system.
However, the report importantly identifies gaps in our understanding around the risks
because of a lack of suitable information or the inability to assess some of the more
complex interactions. Going forward as new evidence emerges, we will need to continually
review, update and manage these risks. Therefore, we need to build a strong evidence
base now and have already started to do this in some areas.
We know the impacts of climate change, have a disproportionate affect on the most
vulnerable and that is why the Welsh Government commissioned further research to
understand how we can tackle this inequality. I will now be working with my Cabinet
Colleagues to identify how we can reduce this inequality and build resilience to the risks
identified in the report.
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Although this report is about dealing with the consequences of climate change, we must not
forget we also need to reduce our emissions. We now have legislation in place to reduce
our emissions by at least 80% by 2050 and play our part in acting on climate change in the
global context. Although we are a small country we, along with our partners, have made
ambitious commitments to reduce our emissions through a Memorandum of Understanding
on Sub-national Global Leadership, which covers 135 jurisdictions, representing 32
countries, six continents, 783 million people and $21 trillion in GDP, equivalent to more than
a quarter of the global economy.
This MOU demonstrates the result of collective power and what can be achieved by working
together. This is what we will need to do going forward. The consequences of climate
change are felt most greatly at a local level and the risks are shared through different
sectors, organisations and the communities we live in. We will need to work collectively
together to build resilience across Wales for our communities and future generations.
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