Climate Change Committee Progress Report to Parliament

[ALEO Admin]

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) published its 2015 progress report to parliament, titled Reducing Emissions and Preparing for Climate Change, on 30 June 2015.

The report finds that the UK has made "good progress", but warns that decisions made in the next five years will have an enormous impact on whether the UK successfully adapts to and limits global warming. "The most cost-effective approach to dealing with climate change requires steady progress over many years," says the report.

The CCC calls for the Government to extend the Renewable Heat Incentive to 2020, set out the future of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) beyond 2017 and develop a strategy for homes at high flood risk.

The report says that "more needs to be done by local authorities to manage the risk of surface water flooding from heavy rainfall". On the day of the report's launch, the CCC tweeted that "nearly half of local authorities have a climate change adaptation plan, but delivery is a low priority" and that LAs are not doing enough to address the risks of heatwaves or drought.

As if to make this point, the day following the report's launch saw the highest temperature ever recorded in the UK for the month of July when temperatures reached 36.7°C at Heathrow at 3.13pm. The previous record was 36.5°C set on 19 July 2006, while the highest ever recorded temperature in the UK was 38.5°C on 10 August 2003 (see twitter.com/CANUKNet/status/616636125432676352).

To read more visit:
http://www.edie.net/news/6/Climate-Chan ... newsletter

To download the full report, visit:
http://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/re ... arliament/