A recent Association of British Insurers’ manifesto on adapting to climate change has set out the action needed to manage water supplies.
This week’s events in Sheffield have highlighted scientists’ prediction that the UK will see an increasing number of extreme climate-related events.
“Adaptation is the key to dealing with the challenges of climate change and that adapting to changes in water resources, with increases in floods and droughts, must be one of the main priorities,” Paul Temple, NFU Vice President, stressed.
“The manifesto highlights the need for energy security, and farmers and growers can be part of the solution to this by generating renewable power on farm. However, it is also important that we focus on ensuring food security and protecting the land that can provide us with the food and fuel we need as world food markets become more volatile as a result of worldwide climatic events.”
Helping the horticultural and agricultural sectors adapt to climate change will also need investment, he said. With financial assistance more farmers would be able to construct reservoirs to enable a shift from summer to winter abstraction of water, which would allow greater quantities of water to be available for use during the summer months, which are predicted to be hotter and drier with climate change.
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