Adapting to climate change: helping key sectors to adapt to climate change

103 organisations, primarily from the energy, transport and water sectors, have provided reports under the Adaptation Reporting Power (ARP) to Defra. The reports demonstrate that these organisations are assessing their risks from climate change and in many cases are well-placed to mitigate them. Different sectors and different organisations within these sectors are at different stages of considering climate change adaptation. The ARP has proved to be the catalyst for many organisations to begin formally considering their climate change risks and adaptation responses, some for the first time. One of the most common outcomes noted both in the Adaptation Reports and the workshops organised by Defra for each sector is that the ARP has led to greater visibility of climate change risks at the organisational and board level, and has embedded management of these risks within corporate risk management processes. Some organisations are at an advanced stage of embedding climate change adaptation, and were either already undertaking research into the effects climate change could have on their functions, or taking adaptation actions to prepare for a future climate. Through the process of completing their report, many organisations engaged with their relevant stakeholders specifically on climate change risks, and worked collaboratively to identify interdependencies between sectors. Similarly the reporting process has resulted in greater awareness of potential barriers to climate change adaptation and suggested ways these barriers can be overcome. Overall the ARP process has demonstrated that reporting authorities are working to mitigate climate change risks and that the UK is building resilience to a future climate.