Select committee
Inquiry · Opened 8 September 2026
Climate adaptation
The committee welcomes responses from anyone with answers to the questions in the call for evidence. The deadline to submit evidence is 11:59pm on 21 October 2026.
What the committee is asking
The Committee’s important new inquiry will explore what risks we face from climate change, whether our adaptation system is equipped to cope with extreme weather, and how we can drive action across government.
The Committee invites written submissions addressing any or all of the issues raised in the following terms of reference, to be received through the Committee’s inquiry portal (found by clicking 'start' at the bottom of this page) by 11.59 Wednesday 21 October 2026.
Terms of reference
Purpose
To examine whether the UK Government's approach to climate adaptation is sufficient to protect communities, infrastructure, the economy and the natural environment from the increasing impacts of climate change, and to identify the policy, governance and financial action required to improve national resilience.
The Committee invites written evidence on the following questions:
1. UK preparedness for climate change
a) What are the most significant climate risks facing the UK over the next 10, 20 and 50 years?
b) Does the Government adequately assess current and future climate risks, including risks to vulnerable environments and potential ecosystem collapse?
c) What lessons should be drawn from recent extreme weather, including heatwaves, drought, flooding and wildfires?
d) How might poorly planned adaptation create new vulnerabilities?
2. The Government’s approach to climate adaptation
a) Is the statutory framework established under the Climate Change Act 2008 delivering effective adaptation? If not, what must be improved?
b) Is the National Adaptation Programme an effective mechanism for delivering climate resilience?
c) What needs to be reflected in the next National Adaptation Programme to sufficiently deliver climate resilience?
d) Should the scheduled publication date of NAP4 be brought forward?
3. Measuring progress
a) What indicators should Government use to measure progress on adaptation?
b) What lessons can be learnt from international best practice?
4. Leadership and governance
a) Does DEFRA, supported by the Environment Agency, have sufficient authority and resources to coordinate climate adaptation across Government?
b) Are responsibilities for adaptation sufficiently clear across Government departments, local authorities, regulators and public bodies?
c) Does the current governance of the National Adaptation Programme enable effective delivery and accountability?
5. Local government and devolved administrations
a) Are local authorities sufficiently resourced and funded to manage climate risks in their existing areas of responsibility? If not, what additional support is required?
b) What obstacles do councils face in preparing for and responding to risks from flooding, extreme heat, drought and wildfire?
c) How effectively are the UK Government and devolved administrations working together on climate adaptation?
d) What lessons can be learnt from approaches to climate adaptation taken by Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?
6. Infrastructure and the built environment
a) Are the UK's energy, water, transport, communications and health systems adequately prepared for more frequent extreme weather?
b) What are the greatest vulnerabilities within critical national infrastructure, supply chains and essential services?
c) What needs to be done to ensure current and future buildings, private and public, are adequately adapted to the changing climate?
7. Agriculture, water and the natural environment
a) Is the UK's water supply sufficiently resilient to increasing drought risk?
b) How should climate adaptation be integrated with agricultural policy and food security?
c) What support do farmers need to adapt to changing temperatures, rainfall and growing conditions?
d) How can nature-based solutions contribute to adaptation, including flood management, water security and urban cooling?
8. Communities
a) Which communities and groups are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change?
b) How should adaptation policy better protect vulnerable communities?
9. Funding and investment
a) Is current public investment in climate adaptation sufficient?
b) Are funding arrangements for local government adequate to deliver adaptation measures?
c) Does the Treasury's approach to public investment adequately account for avoided climate-related losses?
d) What lessons can be learnt from international best practise?
Why this inquiry exists
In its latest advice to the government, the CCC said that climate change is already disrupting life in the UK and said that the UK’s national approach to climate adaption is “not fit for purpose”. It has also argued that the government’s third National Adaptation Plan (NAP3) is not adequately preparing the UK for climate change.
Through its inquiry, the Committee will consider whether the government’s current approach to adaptation goes far enough and what changes are needed to improve the UK’s resilience. The new inquiry comes shortly after the UK experienced its hottest summer since records began in 1884, with nearly three-quarters of England and Wales in drought, 23,000 hectares destroyed in major wildfires and the year’s harvest expected to be the worst on record.
Action has historically focused on reducing emissions, but scientists now agree that the climate will change significantly even if global targets are reached. By 2050, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) believes heatwaves will cause 92% of existing homes to overheat, peak river flows to be higher, longer lasting and increasing the risk of flooding and drier weather leading to water supply running five billion litres short a day.
The Committee invites written evidence on a range of topics including:
The most significant climate risks facing the UK and whether the government’s approach to adaptation is fit for purpose
Whether the UK’s key infrastructure, including water, transport, communications and health are adequately prepared for extreme weather
What support farmers need to adapt to climate change and the role of nature-based solutions
How it should measure progress on adaptation
Whether DEFRA and the Environment Agency are equipped to coordinate adaptation across government and whether enough funding is being invested in adaptation across government
Read the call for evidence for more information about this inquiry, and to find out how to submit written evidence through the Committee's online evidence submission portal.
How to send evidence
Evidence goes to the committee through Parliament’s own form. There is no way to submit it from here: Parliament publishes no API for written evidence, so the button above opens the committee’s page.
What you send is published under your name and can be quoted in the committee’s report. Keep it under 3,000 words, send it as a document rather than a letter in the body of an email, and answer the questions above rather than writing generally.
Open the inquiry on committees.parliament.uk