Share this page
Print this page:
Add this page to:
Builders 'must act now' to address climate change
20/09/10
Edited by Bob Witham.Builders in the UK must act if the country's infrastructure and homes are to cope with the effects of climate change, a panel of government advisers has said.
In the first national assessment of Britain's preparedness for dealing with increasingly erratic and extreme weather, the Adaptation Sub-Committee (ASC) said the impact of climate change is "already being felt".
Flooding, heat-waves and droughts are becoming more common and spring now starts around 11 days earlier than it did in the 1970s, the panel claimed.
Public awareness of environmental issues has increased, but there has been "very little tangible action" on the ground.
It therefore called for builders to take urgent steps to ensure houses and buildings are designed and renovated to be adaptable to rising temperatures and increased flood risk.
The ASC also said planning of land use needs to be reformed so new residential property is not placed on floodplains and urban green space is used to help manage surface water drainage.
Lord John Krebs, the committee's chairman, said: "The UK must start acting now to prepare for climate change. If we wait, it will be too late."
The report comes after new government figures showed carbon emissions from homes in 60 per cent of Britain's 434 local authority areas rose between 2007 and 2008.
