New UK government plan to protect against climate heat ‘very weak’

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🗞️ Driving the news: A leaked draft of the UK government's National Adaptation Programme, a plan to address climate change effects, has faced criticism from experts for being "very weak”

🔭 The context: The criticism focuses on the plan's failure to adequately protect people from extreme heat and insufficient measures to restore nature, both key aspects of climate change adaptation
• The UK experienced heatwaves in 2022, which caused over 3,000 early deaths, wildfires, buckled rail lines, and droughts impacting farming

🌎 Why does it matter for the planet: With climate change expected to increase the intensity of heatwaves, droughts, floods, and storms, an effective national adaptation strategy is crucial to protect lives, livelihoods, and ecosystems

⏭️ What's next: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is legally required to produce a plan every five years, with the next one due to be published soon

💬 One quote: “Despite the claim of a step-change, it outlines measures that lack the urgency and scale necessary to make households and businesses resilient. For example, the section on dealing with the mounting risks of heatwaves is very weak”  (Bob Ward, policy director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at LSE)

📈 One stat: The plan refers to a £5.2 billion investment in new flood and coastal defences announced in 2020

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