27 Mar 07

The UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) began its work in 1997 when climate change was still regarded as an environmental issue on the fringes of policymaking. In 2007, climate change dominates the daily news agenda and the issue of adaptation has a pressing urgency. UKCIP, a programme within the University's Environmental Change Institute, is largely funded by Defra and focuses on the challenge of the impacts of unavoidable climate change. To mark its 10th anniversary, it has launched the Adaptation Actions online database which demonstrates how organisations in the UK are adapting to climate change - searchable by region, sector or type of activity.

Dr Chris West, Director of UKCIP, said: 'Assessing the impacts of climate change and thinking about how we must adapt is moving into the mainstream, and I'd like to think that UKCIP's work has made a difference in this regard. UKCIP brings a unique perspective: working at the interface between the research community and the decision-makers who have responsibility here and now to plan for future climate change.'

Earlier this month, UKCIP held a conference addressed by the Minister for Climate Change, Ian Pearson MP, at which he highlighted UKCIP's important role in preparing the country for climate change. He said that thanks to the work of UKCIP, the Met Office Hadley Centre for Climate Change and the Environment Agency, the UK was more advanced in this than any other country in the world. He warned of the challenge ahead, however, saying now was the time to formalise the UK's strategy through legislation and delivery across government through an Adaptation Policy Framework.

Mr Pearson said:'Success in tackling climate change at home and abroad means not only reducing harmful emissions to prevent future dangerous climate change, but adapting to the changes we are already experiencing in order to protect our economic, social and environmental wellbeing.

'We need to engage with communities of interest across the widest possible range: local government, Regional Development Agenices, planners and developers, utility, infrastructure, and insurance sectors, wildlife and countryside bodies.'