James Murray in Business Green: Environment Minister Caroline Spelman will this morning call on businesses and developers to step up efforts to ensure that the UK's infrastructure is resilient to anticipated climate change, such as the increased incidence of floods, droughts and heat waves.Speaking at the launch of a major new government report entitled Climate Resilient Infrastructure, Spelman will warn that urgent action is required to guarantee that new infrastructure investments deliver projects that can cope with changing climatic patterns.
"£200bn is expected to be invested in the UK's infrastructure over the next five years. But if the facilities which support our society cannot cope with floods, droughts or freezing winters, that money will have been wasted," she will say. Spelman will also argue that there is a strong economic and commercial case for investing in climate resilient infrastructure, even if it results in higher development costs in the short term.
"Our economy is built on effective transport and communications networks and reliable energy and water supplies," she will say. "But the economy cannot grow if there are repeated power failures, or goods cannot be transported because roads are flooded and railways have buckled, or if intense rainfall or high temperatures disrupt Wi-Fi signals."
The report, which will inform Defra's ongoing work to deliver the UK's first Climate Adaptation Programme, contains a series of recommendations for infrastructure developers, owners and operators. In particular, it advises that owners and operators of existing infrastructure should include measures to improve climate resilience in maintenance schedules, and ensure that climate impacts are considered when new infrastructure is being designed….
Culvert under the A145 London Road, Weston, shot by Adrian Cable, Wikimedia Commons via Geograph UK, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license
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