Morning, Wednesday, 2nd December 2026
Online
This conference will assess next steps for strengthening climate adaptation and resilience in the UK.
Areas for discussion include considerations for translating the Climate Change Committee’s fourth risk assessment into policy and regulatory action, alignment of national standards with local delivery, and clarifying the roles of public investment, private finance and regulatory incentives in strengthening resilience across infrastructure, services and communities. With new leadership ahead in government, we also expect the conference to provide an opportunity to consider climate change priorities and the direction of policy over the coming years.
It will bring stakeholders and policymakers together to discuss development of the Government’s fourth National Adaptation Programme in the context of findings from the CCC’s Fourth Independent Assessment of UK Climate Risk: A Well-Adapted UK, and implications of its assessment that the impacts of heat, flooding and water stress on the UK climate are set to intensify. The conference will assess possible approaches to addressing challenges these trends present for interdependent systems, essential services, infrastructure networks and local authority functions.
Further sessions will examine how the CCC’s recommendations on adaptation objectives and targets, funded delivery plans, and strengthened monitoring and governance are being taken forward across government and wider delivery partners as work progresses on the next phase of national adaptation planning.
Economic resilience & mobilising funding
Approaches to building resilience across the UK economy and infrastructure base will be discussed, including addressing investment requirements associated with the CCC’s estimated annual adaptation costs. Attendees will assess the cost‑effectiveness of early action, long‑term investment requirements, and priorities for mobilising finance and supporting innovation.
Practical constraints affecting delivery at scale will also be considered, including capacity, skills and funding challenges across government, local authorities and infrastructure operators, alongside emerging expectations for resilience standards and regulatory coherence.
Shared responsibility & metrics
Those attending will consider how adaptation responsibilities are shared across government, regulators, local authorities, businesses, and households, alongside wider questions of public attitudes, expectations and community resilience.
Delegates will discuss implications of cascading and systemic risks across energy, water, digital connectivity and transport systems, and how current institutional arrangements enable co-ordinated action. The evidence and metrics required to support long-term decision-making will also be discussed, alongside development of measurable adaptation objectives and resilience standards, behavioural responses to climate risk, and community-level preparedness.
Overview of areas for discussion
- priorities for adaptation and resilience:
- long‑term planning - implications of the CCC’s minimum 2°C warming pathway for heat, flooding and water security, and how these assumptions might inform NAP4
- prioritisation of systemic climate risks across sectors and infrastructure networks in the context of escalating and interdependent impacts
- alignment between adaptation planning and wider climate policy developments, including emissions reduction pathways and resilience objectives
- principles for effective adaptation:
- embedding adaptation across policy, regulation and investment frameworks - minimum resilience standards and adaptation duties
- governance and data architecture - shared datasets, interoperable modelling tools, mandatory reporting and climate stress testing
- regulatory coherence across key infrastructure systems, including energy, water, transport, digital and housing
- financing and delivery:
- cost‑effectiveness - assessing avoided costs and whole-life asset considerations - long-term value for money in adaptation investment
- financing adaptation - mobilising public and private finance, investment signals, risk-sharing mechanisms, and regulatory incentives
- innovation in delivery - climate‑resilient materials, nature‑based solutions and digital monitoring technologies
- delivery capability - skills, institutional capacity, and long-term funding certainty across government, local authorities and infrastructure operators
- insurance affordability and availability - implications of increasing climate risk exposure for households and businesses
- societal and community resilience:
- public attitudes to climate risk - expectations, behaviour change and support for community-level action
- public service continuity - impacts of heat, flooding, and water stress on essential services and local authority functions
- infrastructure resilience standards across energy, water, transport, digital networks, and supply chains - approaches to upgrading and harmonisation
- community-level preparedness and resilience planning - inequalities in exposure and vulnerability
