News abstracts for May 2009
Climate impacts and adaptation scienceThe UKCP09 climate projections are now due to be launched in the summer, probably after the European elections and before the summer recess. Defra and UKCIP have developed the Projections in Practice (PiP) programme. This will provide a series of training and workshop events along with a suite of online learning packages. More details on the events can be found at www.ukcip.org.uk/pip or register your interest in attending. The new Flood Forecasting Centre was officially opened by Environment Minister Hilary Benn. The Centre is a partnership between the Environment Agency and the Met Office (two members of the London Climate Change Partnership), to provide one unified forecast covering rainfall and flooding. The Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership has launched their Exploring ecosystem linkages report card 2009, showing how the interconnected nature of the marine ecosystem magnifies the many discrete impacts of climate change, documented in the MCCIP Annual Report Cards. Water resourcesThe final report by Professor Martin Cave into competition and innovation in water markets has been published. The AECB have published a Water Standard which addresses both water efficiency and carbon emissions from water use and which they consider better than the relevant part of the Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH). The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) have published 'Consultation on implementing the abstraction elements of the Water Act 2003'. Consultation deadline: 22 July. Natural England issued a call for water companies to ‘stand firm’ in their commitment to the natural environment. Flood risk managementThe Government have published the draft Flood and Water Management Bill. The aims of the draft Bill are to:
Consultation deadline: 24 July. The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee are undertaking pre-legislative scrutiny of this Bill. The Committee invites all interested parties to address these matters in writing. The deadline for submissions is Thursday 7 May 2009. PlanningThe Mayor has set out his vision for London in his review of the London Plan. This states that "The planning system is a vital tool in tackling and adapting to climate change and helping the city to manage its scarce resources, such as water, responsibly and effectively." "Proposals for the Mayor’s London Plan" has been published for initial consultation with the London Assembly and the GLA Group (climate change adaptation section pages 56-57). A full draft new London Plan will be published for public consultation in Autumn 2009. In the summer/autumn of 2010 the London Plan will be submitted to an examination in public, led by a panel of independent inspectors which will report back to the Mayor in spring 2011. It is intended that the final version of the new London Plan will be published in the winter of 2011-12. BuildingsThe UK Green Building Council has published 'Biodiversity and the built environment' CABE have published 'Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment: agreeing a procurement strategy' BiodiversityNatural England has published a Draft Policy on Invasive Non-native Species. This includes the point that "with the onset of increasing climate change impacts we need to draw a clear distinction between those non-native species arriving as a result of human intervention and those arriving as a consequence of a dynamic changing natural environment." The draft policy states that the latter will be considered to be native colonisers as long as the source population is considered native. This policy will represent a significant step in addressing the impacts of climate change for organisations concerned with protecting the natural environment. See also under Water Resources and Buildings Transport and infrastructureThe Department for Transport has published 'NATA (New Approach to Appraisal) refresh: appraisal for a sustainable transport system', which announces changes being made to the New Approach to Appraisal framework in the light of the Stern Review, Eddington Transport Study and the New Approach to Appraisal Refresh consultation. It promises to release advice in the summer on how to appraise climate change impacts. Defence & securityThe IPPR has published UK National Security and Environmental Change by Cleo Paskal, Associate Fellow, Energy, Environment and Development Programme, Chatham House (This report references the Partnership's 2005 report on transport). Emergency planningDemos has published Resilient Nation by Charlie Edwards, a pamphlet which calls for a radical rethink of resilience. Instead of structures or centralised services, it argues that citizens and communities are the true source of resilience for our society. Local governmentThe IDEA have created case study pages on their Beacon Councils Website including about adaptation to climate change. One examples is the work at the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham on green roofs, which includes producing guidance on the benefits and techniques for the creation of green roofs in a Planning Advice Note (PAN) and a company was created locally providing green roofs. Another is the work of the City of London Corporation on, for example, adapting urban open spaces and Burnham Beeches. Regional and devolved administration governmentThe East of England has published for consultation its Implementation Plan, setting out how it will deliver the long-term vision for the future in its regional economic and spatial strategies published in 2008. The consultation documents include the East of England Climate Change Action Plan. Consultation deadline: 3 July 2009. Business and industryThe London Development Agency has published a consultation on the draft London tourism action plan 2009/13. The plan provides an opportunity to incorporate thinking on making this important economic sector take advantage of warmer weather here and deteriorating weather in some traditional holiday destinations, and to become more resilient to transport disruption. Consultation deadline 19 May. InternationalThe Scottish Minister for Climate Change has launched a second round of consultation on Scotland's Climate Change Adaptation Framework. Consultation deadline: 20 July. At the Steering Group meeting on 21 April, the Partnership had two visitors from Stockholm, Karin André and Louise Simonsson. Information about the Mistra Swedish research programme on Climate, Impacts and Adaptation is available at www.mistra-swecia.se Oxfam has warned that climate change will overload humanitarian system. The nmber of people affected by extreme weather has doubled in 30 years and is expected to reach 375 million a year by 2015. Climate change threatens Ganges, Niger and other mighty rivers. Mitigation: Energy and greenhouse gas emissionsThe London Development Agency have published 'Prospectus for London, the low carbon economy', a report by Ernst & Young setting out the opportunity for London to become a leading low-carbon capital, creating jobs and contributing significantly to the economy. CommunicationLord Stern says don't be pessimistic. JobsLet us know about jobs related to climate change adaptation in London.
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Forthcoming events 12-18 March 2012: Featured publication Read the LCCP response to the publication of the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) 2012 |
