DEFRA has published its Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) highlighting the challenges as well as opportunities for the UK economy including agriculture. The 2,000 page report means the UK is one of the best prepared nations for the implications of climate change.
Unveiling the ground-breaking study last week, DEFRA also announced a national adaptation programme. Under the initiative businesses and individuals are encouraged to enter their views on the action needed to tackle the implications of climate change where they live and work onto a new website.
A series of threats to horticulture were identified in the report including an increase in demand for crop irrigation, drier soils, unsustainable water abstractions and risk of pest and disease. The study also identified potential opportunities such as changes in potato yields, production of new crops, for example peaches, or wider uptake and increased output of others such as blueberries.
Speaking at the launch of the CCRA, environment secretary Caroline Spelman said: “This world class research provides the most comprehensive case yet on why we need to take action to adapt the UK and our economy to the impacts of climate change. It shows what life could be like if we stopped our preparations now, and the consequences such a decision would mean for our economic stability. The CCRA will be vital in helping us to understand what we need to do to stop these threats becoming a reality. In doing so there is also great potential for growth through UK firms developing innovative products and services tailored to meet the global climate challenges.”
Lord John Krebs chaired the adaptation sub-committee of the committee on climate change and said that the report showed why the UK needs to take action to adapt now. “The work of my committee has found that by taking steps to manage…risks, the UK can reduce the costs of climate change in the future.”
Among the major risks the report identified was a heightened risk of flooding; high-quality horticultural land likely to be flooded at least once every three years will rise to 35,000ha by the 2020s from the current figure of about 30,000ha and to 130,000ha by the 2080s.
