A Climate Change Action Plan for North West England, UK

CS 44 A Climate Change Action Plan for North West England, UK

This case study provides a good example of where numerous Public Administration bodies have come together to create a regional climate change strategy. Lead by Climate Change North West, the regional climate change partnership^[1], this strategy focuses the use of green infrastructure as an important mechanism to adapting the impacts of climate change.

The UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP09, 2009) show that under a medium greenhouse gas emissions scenario for the 2080s the climate of the North West is projected to change significantly and experience:

1. An increase in average summer temperature with a central estimate of 3.7 degrees;
2. 21% less rainfall in the summer, possibly leading to subsidence, lower crop yields and water stress;
3. 16% more rainfall in the winter increasing the threat of winter flooding, transport disruption and risks to urban drainage;
4. Sea level rise in Liverpool of 30-32cm

This climate change action plan contains an extensive list of actions to tackle both the causes and effects of climate change. The plan focuses on the development of an adaptation framework which encompasses an approach to identifying the vulnerability of local communities, businesses, built and natural environment to future climate change and to understand how this adaptation capacity will be translated into adaptation actions (NWCCP, 2010). Key adaptive actions from the plan include:

• Create catchment and shoreline management plans to manage risk of coastal flooding
• Carry out a regional assessment of the risks, opportunities and priorities for green infrastructure in adapting and mitigating for climate change
• Create adaptation strategies for the region’s distinctive landscapes, habitats and species and assess the contribution of natural systems to carbon sequestration and reduced flood risk.
• Assess the implication of climate change on health services and existing and future built environment.