Adapting to climate change in the UK

Changes in the UK climate are inevitable, and the UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) is an organization that has been put in place to help the commercial and public sector to prepare for the impacts of climate change. Funded by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), provides scenarios that show how our climate might change and co-ordinates research on dealing with our future climate.

Most of the changes in climate that will happen over the next 30 to 40 years have already been determined by past and present emissions. This is because the climate system adjusts only slowly to the increased concentrations of these gases from human activities over the last century. Greenhouse gases have a relatively long lifetime in the atmosphere so even if we make major reductions in greenhouse gases now, some climate change is inevitable. Implications for many aspects of the environment, society and economy will be effected. We will need adjust our lifestyle to reducing carbon emissions as well as adapting to our unavoidable new climate conditions.

Alongside a set of policies and measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the UK Climate Change Programme also includes Government policy on assessing and adapting to the impacts of climate change. Government also funds research into the impacts of climate change to provide a sound basis for adaptation decisions.

UKCIP provides a bridge between researchers and decision-makers in government organisations and business. The UKCIP was set up in April 1997 and is based at the University of Oxford. They work with stakeholders and partners that commission research on the impact of climate change on regional and national levels. The research agenda is set by work commissioned, ensuring that it meets current needs. UKCIP has been the catalyst for a range of regional and sectoral studies into the impacts of climate change. UKCIP is part of a wider programme of research into climate change being undertaken by Defra.

All UKCIP reports and publications are available free of charge and can be downloaded from the website or requested in hard copy. "Measuring Progress" was published in June 2005, and draws together findings from all UKCIP studies to give an integrated national picture of the impacts of climate change and emerging adaptation options.

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