Twenty-eighth Report Adapting Institutions to Climate Change Cm ...

5.23
5.24
The Climate Change Act 2008 empowers the Government and Welsh Ministers to direct public
bodies to prepare and report on risk assessments and action plans. Defra has recently issued a
strategy about which bodies should be regarded as priority reporting authorities (Box 3A and
3.20-3.22). There are bodies which satisfy Defra’s criteria as priority reporting authorities but which
do not meet the definition of a reporting authority for the purpose of the Climate Change Act
(for example, petroleum and electronic communications companies, and the food sector). Defra
is proposing to ask these bodies to report on a voluntary basis. The Commission recommends
that Government regularly review, and if necessary update, the definition of a reporting
authority in the Climate Change Act 2008, in order to ensure that reporting obligations
can be imposed on all bodies identified as meeting the Defra criteria for selection as
priority reporting authorities.
There are also bodies which meet Defra’s criteria for priority reporting and are reporting authorities
within the definition in the Climate Change Act, but which will nonetheless not (initially at
least) be required to report. For example, local authorities are excluded from Defra’s initial list,
because they report in accordance with national indicator NI188 (3.25-3.27). Defra recognises the
importance of keeping alternative arrangements such as these under review, and we welcome this.
In addition, the Commission recommends that the Adaptation Sub-Committee should
evaluate and ensure the adequacy of the arrangements which apply to bodies which meet
Defra’s criteria for priority reporting bodies but are excluded from Defra’s initial list of
those required to report.
INDICATORS OF ADAPTIVE CAPACITY
5.25 It will be important for organisations to monitor and evaluate their performance in building
capacity. This is, however, difficult: measuring adaptation, or adaptive capacity, is not straightforward
(4.51) because there is no end-point or quantifiable target for adaptation which can be
set, and the circumstances of each organisation are different.
5.26
5.27
5.28
There is considerable debate as to how baselines can be set when the climate is changing, or
what form meaningful indicators can take when the goal is to build the capacity to adapt now
and in the future. Simple outcome indicators can be too narrow to account for the complexity of
adaptation, and sometimes misleading where adaptive success involves the absence of an effect,
for example flooding. It will be important to avoid a system of targets which can unintentionally
create perverse incentives.
The definition of the targets must follow from a correct framing of the problem, and reflect the
uncertainties and the complexities which we have identified. The Defra guidance for departmental
adaptation plans requires Departments to define indicators to help them define what successful
adaptation looks like; 5 the Scottish Government is developing its own indicators.
It is also clear to us that in view of the complexity of the adaptation challenge there is no simple
indicator that can be applied to all institutions and all sectors. It is likely that at first organisations
will use primarily process-based indicators. Over time, as they become more experienced
in building adaptive capacity, they may be able to move towards greater use of outcome-based
indicators. Both are important, and we would encourage the development and use of both processand
outcome-based indicators as soon as possible.
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Chapter 5