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

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from flooding. Hot-spots are those parts of the country most at risk from flooding, and where
the problems are likely to get worse because of climate change and rising sea levels. In each
hot-spot the local authorities lead the process (another aspect of framing the issue) to decide
what the most effective local actions should be, within a nationally coherent framework.
Some of the proposed courses of action to protect hot-spots are imaginative. In Provincie
Zuid Holland, sea defences are expected to become too weak within 10 years, but the proposed
works will ensure they meet the required safety standards for a further 50 years. This will be
done on the basis of integrated development of the coastline, which means that at the same time
as improving the defences they will create space for nature and recreation as well as business
and habitation (so making innovative use of the opportunity). One engineering solution is to
dredge vast quantities of sand and either transfer it to the land (to counteract subsidence) or
place it offshore to create a ‘sand engine’ whereby natural processes will continue to feed the
shore and provide coastal defence.
The national debate in the Netherlands about these issues continues. In late 2008, the Delta
Commission published a report into the state of the nation’s flood defences, and identified
many areas where they believe considerably more work needs to be done to improve flood
defences in the face of climate change (an example of learning about the issue), arguing
that in some places defences need to be adequate even for a once-in-10,000-year event. The
Netherlands is currently debating how to respond to this report and what the most appropriate
implementation path will be.
44 At our Edinburgh seminar in September 2008, which was attended by representatives of the
Northern Ireland Executive and Scottish Government, delegates identified a mismatch in national
and local scales of action; impacts will be felt locally but national plans inevitably have poor
detail at the local level. It was also suggested that national planning for climate change does not
always properly take account of regional variation, especially in the Devolved Administrations.
In Northern Ireland, water is recognised as being a cross-border issue, requiring horizontal
co-ordination and shared responsibility with the Republic of Ireland.
Agriculture was also raised as an example of the dangers of ‘silo’ (or stand-alone) thinking,
encouraging insufficient horizontal co-ordination. Adapting agriculture to climate change will
require the environment and agriculture departments of devolved governments to work together.
The agricultural industry itself can and will adapt very quickly, especially if the subsidy system
is used to incentivise change. Such changes could have significant environmental impacts, and
environmental actors need to understand what these changes might be and how their impact on
biodiversity, soil systems and water might be minimised or used beneficially. Environment and
agriculture departments must also ensure that attempts to improve co-ordination are no more
complicated than absolutely necessary.
Resources – people, skills and finance
4.90 Adaptation requires the right number of people, with the right skills and training, and sufficient
financial resources. Evidence received by the Commission highlighted the need for more engineers,
and greater capacity in the planning system, to deal with the challenges of climate change. 45 These
are specific disciplines, but there is a wider need for training for a variety of professions to be set
into the context of a changing climate so as to enable institutions to take a broad and multidisciplinary
view. 46
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Chapter 4