Adaptation the key to dealing with climate change challenge

The NFU has welcomed the recent Association of British Insurers’ manifesto on adapting to climate change which sets out strategic solutions and action needed to manage key threats such as maintaining water supplies.

Current research suggests we will see an increasing number of extreme climate-related events which will put greater pressure on our infrastructure, society and economy. The NFU agrees with the ABI that adaptation is the key to dealing with the challenges of climate change and that adapting to changes in water resources, with increases in floods and droughts, must be one of the main priorities.

Paul Temple, NFU Vice President, said: “Spending on flood defences needs to keep pace with the predicted impacts of climate change, particularly in vulnerable coastal areas. Protecting coastal land is not only about protecting the land itself but also the inland communities, towns and cities which could be put at risk.

“The manifesto highlights the need for energy security and farmers and growers can be part of the solution to this by generating renewable power on farm. However, it is also important that we focus on ensuring food security and protecting the land that can provide us with the food and fuel we need as world food markets become more volatile as a result of worldwide climatic events.”

Helping the agricultural and horticultural sectors adapt to climate change will also need investment. With financial assistance more farmers would be able to construct reservoirs to enable a shift from summer to winter abstraction of water which would allow greater quantities of water to be available for use during the summer months, which are predicted to be hotter and drier with climate change. 
 

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