Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency, said:
The Climate Change Committee has published a powerful report today on the importance of us continuing to plan, mitigate and adapt in the face of future climate risks.
The Government has made a fantastic commitment to achieving net zero carbon. But we know that up to at least 2050, temperatures are expected to increase regardless of how strongly emissions are reducing globally. Global overheating is changing our weather and increasing our risk of flooding. That is why our draft Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy is seeking to better prepare us for a 2°C warming in global temperatures as well as planning for higher scenarios such as a 4°C rise in global temperatures.
We welcome the Committee’s recognition that our draft strategy is taking the necessary and ambitious steps needed to be a climate resilient nation. We will be working with government and our partners to finalise the strategy later this year and will be taking the Committee’s advice into account.