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implementation of sustainable drainage systems
through construction of flood storage basins etc.
within its catchment. Within the urban environment
the conservation of unsealed surfaces for infiltration
and storage of rain water, and incorporation of
sustainable urban drainage within the urban green
space, are important measures in controlling
surface run-off, especially on soils with high
permeability (for example sandy soils). 14
A key consideration in planning for climate
adaptation is the relationship between adaptive
measures and climate mitigation (the reduction of
GHG emissions). In many respects, adaptation via
‘green infrastructure’ provides an example of a
Adaptation policy and practice
Only relatively recently has climate change
adaptation become a policy issue for governments
and other organisations. Nevertheless, in a short
space of time, adaptation agendas have penetrated
a range of policy arenas at different spatial scales
and within diverse sectors.
Spatially responsive policy exists across the full
range of scales from the EU Adaptation White
Paper 25 and the UK Climate Change Act, through to
emerging strategies and policies produced by local
planning authorities. 26 The UK Climate Change Act
of 2008 requires ‘bodies with functions of a public
nature’ and ‘statutory undertakers’ to identify and
Left
‘In many respects,
adaptation via
‘green
infrastructure’
provides an
example of a
measure that
occupies the
‘sweet spot’ in the
Venn diagram
where adaptation
and mitigation
overlap’
measure that occupies the ‘sweet spot’ in the Venn
diagram where adaptation and mitigation overlap. 23
For example, the urban forest not only captures
carbon dioxide (arising from tree pruning etc. which
can be harvested and used to substitute for fossil
fuels in heating and power generation), but can
result in energy savings through reducing cooling
demand in buildings and, via rainfall interception,
the energy load of waste water treatment. 22 In the
GRaBS Expert Paper on transport planning,
Giuseppe Inturri and colleagues also begin to
identify some encouraging synergies between
adaptation and mitigation in this sector. 24
However, as Jeff Howard makes clear in his
critical perspective on the ‘adaptation turn’ in urban
climate planning, the most effective adaptation
response is to recognise the likely severity and
magnitude of climate feedbacks, as discussed in the
first part of this article, as a critique on current
practice, and to press for not only a serious
adaptation response but, at the same time, a far
deeper public commitment to mitigation. 23 Action
on these fronts will require effective policy and
governance frameworks, and it is to this issue that
we turn next.
report on the key climate change risks that they are
facing and on how they propose to address these
risks. It encompasses organisations that include
certain utilities, transport and telecommunications
providers. The Act demonstrates that legislators
perceive adaptation planning as an important exercise
to be undertaken across a range of different sectors.
As a result of policies and programmes such as
these and, one would hope, an increasing recognition
of the ‘adaptation imperative’, adaptation planning is
starting to emerge in practice across different
spatial scales. Within Europe for example, National
Adaptation Strategies are becoming more common, 27
and there is evidence that some European cities are
beginning to provide leadership in this area. 28
However, Tompkins et al. 29 observe, in the case of
the UK, that although central government’s topdown
adaptation approach has stimulated action in
some areas, such as the water supply and flood
defence sectors, this has yet to filter through to
stimulate widespread activity at the local level. The
UK Government’s Adaptation Sub Committee
concurs with this finding, highlighting that there is
little real evidence of widespread tangible
adaptation activity in the public or private sectors. 30
Town & Country Planning June 2011 : GRaBS Project – INTERREG IVC; ERDF-funded 257