Focusing efforts solely on reducing and offsetting emissions will
not be enough to properly combat the climate emergency,
Environment Agency Chief Executive Sir will warn
businesses and government today.
Speaking at the Whitehall and Industry Group’s Net Zero
Roundtable, Sir James will praise the private and
public sectors’ vital net zero ambitions, while urging them to
adopt “net zero plus”: reducing emissions while also adapting to
the more extreme weather and rising sea levels that are
inevitable due to damage already done.
Demonstrating the extent of this damage, Sir James is expected to
say:
“Even if the world was to stop all its carbon emissions tonight,
the effects of the emissions that have already happened will
continue to make themselves felt for decades.
“Global average temperatures have already warmed 1˚C above
preindustrial temperatures, and we’re already seeing evidence of
more frequent and more extreme flooding, droughts, water
shortages and wildfires; faster and more extreme coastal erosion;
and potentially permanent damage to habitats, plants, wildlife
and cultural heritage.
“In all future climate scenarios, however fast we move in getting
to net zero, we’ll experience a continued rise in sea level well
into the next century. Average sea level has already risen by
around 16 centimetres since 1900 and could increase by over a
metre by the end of this century. EA and Met Office research
shows that under all greenhouse gas emission scenarios, sea
levels are expected to continue to rise to 2300, possibly by as
much as 4.5 metres.
“Even with the ambitious global and national actions we all want
to see to reduce emissions, some further climate change is now
inevitable. That is why as a nation we need to be climate ready
so that we are resilient to the future hazards and potential
shocks that would otherwise impact our economy, our prosperity,
and our lifestyle.”
Describing net zero and adaptation as “two sides of the same
coin”, he will demonstrate the need for urgency on adaptation,
and encourage businesses to seize the opportunities available to
them:
“In the Cold War, the government ran a campaign called Protect
And Survive. If we want to respond to the existential threat we
face today – the climate emergency – then we could adopt a
variation on that slogan: Adapt and Thrive.
“We need to design and build our infrastructure, our cities and
our economy so that they are resilient to the effects of the
changing climate.
“But the point is not just to survive. If we adapt right we can
thrive too. That’s because climate adaptation offers all of us,
including every single business, a world of new opportunities.
There are economic opportunities: to innovate and drive growth,
and many companies are seizing those. But the most exciting
opportunity of all is the opportunity to create a better world:
to build back better when flooding or drought damages homes and
businesses; to create cleaner, greener cities which are more
beautiful and better to live in than the ones we have now; and
enhance nature at the same time as we lock up more carbon.”
Sir James will also stress the importance of projects that both
help us move towards net zero through carbon sequestration and
also help us to adapt. He will highlight the ‘Keeping Rivers
Cool’ project, which has seen the Environment Agency and partners
plant more than 300,000 trees along several rivers – locking up
carbon, but also keeping rivers shadier and cooler for trout and
salmon which are increasingly vulnerable on hot summer days.
Sir will speak at
the Westminster and Industry Group Net Zero Roundtable from 10am
on Tuesday 16 March.
