With Britain experiencing record high temperatures and prolonged spells of dry weather, the issue of global warming here in the UK has never been more pertinent.
The UK is quite a safe place to live but, like the rest of the world, we are also vulnerable to disaster risks. One of the highest risks on our national risk register is major coastal flooding and that will be affected by changes in our climate. The Committee on Climate Change estimates that there is a 10% chance of catastrophic flooding in England within the next two decades.
This poses a significant challenge to local policymakers, whose job it is to put strategies in place to protect their communities. It is critical that they take urgent action to ensure people are equipped to deal with those risks within our communities all over the UK.
Implementing a strategy
To do this we have to take a strategic approach to supporting communities in a way that gives them the tools they need to respond to emergencies such as severe weather.
Local governments are leading on this, but it is the public that so often bear the brunt of severe weather – they are usually the first to arrive at and the last to leave a disaster – so they are the ones that understand the impact on the ground.
Our efforts to tackle the climate emergency has shown that to have the greatest impact we must act together, and this is true in how we prepare for emergencies too. Local authorities should be implementing any changes with the public, not on the public.
Individuals, community groups, businesses, and organisations can all play a meaningful part in building the resilience of our society. It is important that all these stakeholders are engaged in the strategic process.
As well as identifying risks, planning can also highlight strengths. Look at what the community has access to and any skills that can be put to use during severe weather events. It enables them to be the ones that can react swiftly on the ground.
Community engagement
Some communities in the UK are very actively engaged in building their resilience and planning for risks – but this is not the case everywhere. The onus is on local authorities to bridge that gap and a new group - the National Consortium for Societal Resilience [UK+] – has been formed to help them to do exactly that.
Many local authorities are already working with groups such as NGOs and charity groups, that are listening to people on the ground. Strengthening these relationships will be key, as well as reaching out to more community organisations that connect with hardly-reached groups.
It is worth keeping in mind too that younger people in particular are increasingly passionate about environmental issues so reaching out to colleges and youth groups can also be effective.
Garnering the support of more stakeholders and gathering as much as insight as possible will be valuable and can be embedded in policies and actions.
Implementing best practice
As co-chair of the National Consortium for Societal Resilience [UK+] (NCSR+) I have been advocating a societal approach to resilience at a local level.
Through the NCSR+, local governments are working to collaborate even more closely with their local communities and organisations, and with each other, to pursue this national endeavour together.
We have been developing strategies to cope with the impacts of the pandemic, a phenomenon which exposed a lack of preparation for such emergencies but also shone a light on the willingness of communities to help.
The past couple of weeks have shown we rarely have much time to prepare. That’s why local authorities are pre-empting the challenges that we expect to come and building the capabilities to effectively deal with them in our communities. Working with all stakeholders they should be laying out concrete plans that will safeguard them against the next extreme weather event.
We need to act fast, there’s no doubt about it. But to have the biggest impact, it’s equally important that we act together.
Duncan Shaw is professor of operational research and critical systems at Alliance Manchester Business School
