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

5.46
The Commission recommends that the Government’s Adapting to Climate Change
Programme ensures there is a framework for collaboration on a cross-sectoral approach
to the development of the National Risk Assessmentiii and subsequent Action Plans for
adaptation to climate change.
RESOURCES TO BUILD CAPACITY
5.47
Our third series of recommendations is aimed at developing leadership, raising awareness,
developing the knowledge and skills which organisations will need to build adaptive capacity,
and ensuring the resources will be available.
THE IMPORTANCE OF LEADERSHIP AND CULTURAL CHANGE
5.48 Building adaptive capacity will require knowledgeable individuals who can think strategically about
what climate change means for their organisation and who can embed resilience to climate change
into their organisation’s business. The Commission welcomes Defra’s guidance on formulating
Departmental Adaptation Plans (3.13), which requires Government departments to act now to
plan for adaptation.
5.49
5.50
5.51
Leadership is particularly important in addressing climate change, because of the endemic
uncertainty and complexity. In addition, leadership may be necessary to ensure the right level
of support, resources and acceptance for current policy changes or investment now to deal with
future problems. The need to consider adaptation must be embedded throughout organisations,
and this can only be achieved through appropriate leadership. The Commission has observed that
adaptive capacity has been built in organisations where there are climate change champions and,
where relevant, supportive politicians.
The culture of building adaptive capacity should pervade a whole organisation. Leadership is
necessary if organisations are to understand the need for adaptation, to frame the issue effectively,
and to be vigilant in exposing and tackling damaging path dependencies. A list of ten initial
questions to help decision-makers address adaptation is given at Box 5A later in this chapter.
Defra guidance for Departmental Adaptation Plans8 recommends that responsibility for departmental
adaptation should be owned at Management Board or at least Director level. This principle
should be adopted by all organisations affected by climate change. This will also require active
steps to develop the competencies necessary to create the learning organisation which will deliver
effective climate change adaptation (4.48). The Commission recommends that organisations
(both public and private) should ensure that responsibility for building adaptive capacity
and putting in place arrangements to develop and utilise the competencies necessary for
climate change adaptation is assigned at Management Board or Director level.
The Government has taken important steps to increase awareness of the challenge of adaptation,
in particular through the Adapting to Climate Change Programme, and by way of its support for
the UK Climate Impacts Programme. In England and Wales, the Local Government Association
(LGA) has also done much to raise awareness amongst local authorities, not least through the
LGA’s annual climate change conference. But it is not yet clear how far this awareness is reaching
into public and private sector organisations. Work needs to continue if organisations, and the
iii The Climate Change Act 2008 commits the UK Government to carrying out an assessment of the risks to the
UK of climate change every five years. The first cycle is required to report to Parliament by the end of January
2012. See http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climate/adaptation/assess-risk.htm.
103
Chapter 5