The first batch in a new series of reports produced by organisations which maintain national infrastructure and published by Defra have set out the potential risks and solutions of climate change.
Roads, railways, energy and water supply networks and other infrastructure need to be able to cope with the effects of a changing climate.
Reports from seven organisations including Network Rail, National Grid and the Highways Agency were carried out at the request of Defra under the Climate Change Act to ensure that organisations with a crucial role in running the country’s infrastructure are preparing for the threats and opportunities which climate change will pose.
91 organisations will be asked to submit reports to Defra over the next year.
Risks identified in the reports and measures planned to address them include potential for increased flooding of rail tracks, stations and depots and tracks buckling in high temperatures, train failure in the heat and maintenance hindered by adverse weather.
Also, roads deteriorating quicker due to increases in average temperatures and more frequent extreme weather, gas pipes could become exposed and leak through subsidence, river erosion or coastal erosion and rising temperatures and changes to natural habitats will put pressure on wildlife, which will not have time to adapt, and an increased fire risk in woodland and on moors from hotter, drier summers.
Environment Minister Lord Henley said: "It is crucial that major organisations with key roles in keeping the country running are alive to the risks that a changing climate will have on their business, because they need to start planning for how they’re going to adapt."
Further information:
Defra
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