Risks to people’s health from heatwaves is the greatest priority climate concern for councils, according to a new LGA survey on local climate preparedness.
Other council concerns identified in the survey include: damage to critical infrastructure and buildings, such as roads and homes; widespread risks to people and the economy from climate-related failure of the power system; lack of data; and lack of funding.
Last year brought record-breaking temperatures, wildfire incidents and significant infrastructure disruption, with extreme heat leading to thousands of excess deaths across the country. The year before, councils dealt with significant flash flooding.
The LGA said urgent action is needed to prepare our villages, towns and cities for the impacts of climate change. It is calling for the UK Government to enable urgent acceleration of local adaptation action as part of its forthcoming National Adaptation Programme (NAP) in England. The NAP must include more to raise awareness of how people and partners can adapt to climate change, improve the availability of data to prepare for climate risks in places, and ensure policies and investments reflect adaptation, as well as net-zero efforts, according to the LGA.
Cllr Linda Taylor, LGA Environment Spokesperson, said: “The impacts of climate change are going to intensify into the future, and councils are warning people and places will be left increasingly vulnerable without further preparation.
“Councils need support to prepare their communities for the impacts of climate change now and… funding and resources to adequately reduce the risks to lives and livelihoods.
“As the leaders of local areas, councils are at the forefront of local climate action: they must be made able to protect their residents.”