Morning, Friday, 27th February 2026
Online
This conference will examine recent developments and priorities for implementing climate change adaptation and resilience in the UK. Discussion will focus on practical considerations for delivery, particularly for infrastructure planning, investment and operation.
It will bring stakeholders and policymakers together to consider implications as national and local government plans - alongside those of regulators and infrastructure operators - advance for strengthening climate preparedness for critical infrastructure, vulnerable communities, and more widely across built and natural environments.
Policy, key developments & implications for delivery
In discussing the way forward, sessions will draw on recommendations for adaptation strategies set out in the Climate Change Committee’s Progress in adapting to climate change report and the Government’s response, alongside the UK Resilience Action Plan, 10-year flood defence programme, continued implementation of the UK’s Third National Adaptation Programme and preparations for NAP4. Sessions will address issues with delays in delivery and options for closing the delivery gap in NAP4.
Looking at implications for infrastructure and contingency planning, as well as investment decisions, we expect discussion on options for addressing stakeholder concerns that progress across sectors remains uneven - with gaps in monitoring and accountability - and on the adequacy in testing of current approaches against severe flooding, heatwaves and compound risk.
Milestones, coordination & funding
Options for setting clear, measurable and costed objectives and milestones in NAP3 and NAP4 will be assessed, with discussion on integrating them into national, regional and local delivery plans, and developing governance and accountability arrangements that can support consistent implementation across sectors. Further areas for discussion include practical approaches to setting objectives that can be monitored consistently, with transparent lines of responsibility for delivery and performance.
Following publication of the Resilience Action Plan and 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy, and amidst concerns of fragmented responsibilities, the agenda will assess how best to embed a more holistic and interconnected approach to adaptation and resilience. This includes where accountability is shared across national agencies, local bodies, and infrastructure operators - and frameworks for reducing duplication and closing gaps where risks such as flooding do not sit within single organisational remits.
Attendees will consider practical approaches to integrating strengthened adaptation objectives into policy and funding streams, including extending the reach of the Adaptation Reporting Power, and appropriate scaling, targeting and timing of investment commitments in the 2025 Spending Review. Further questions include how to provide longer-term certainty for delivery bodies and supply chains, and how priorities are set where risks are becoming more acute but resources and delivery capacity are constrained.
Encouraging investment, monitoring climate risk & opportunities for AI
Further discussion will consider how regulatory frameworks, price controls and planning processes might be deployed to incentivise both public and private adaptation and resilience-focused investment. Opportunities for supporting local delivery capacity and finance mechanisms will also be explored, such as local climate bonds, multi-year place-based funding for delivering longer-term programmes, and options to give local bodies greater flexibility over funding and investment decisions.
Approaches to strengthening monitoring and reporting of climate risk and preparedness will be considered, including lessons from the rollout of Taskforce for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures-aligned reporting. Delegates will look at implications for investors, insurers and the public sector around data quality and comparability, including the role of voluntary reporting.
We also expect discussion on the application of technology to support organisations with transparency, data collection, understanding of risk and reporting, including blockchain, predictive modelling platforms, AI and early warning systems. Delegates will consider what will be needed for workforce structures and skillsets to define responsibilities, interpret insights, make business cases and apply new strategies to enable improved climate initiatives.
Built environment & critical infrastructure
Sessions will examine priorities for the rollout of the 10-year flood defence programme, with discussion on the impact of climate change and extreme weather on the built environment and critical infrastructure, particularly from increased flooding and coastal erosion, heatwaves, and droughts.
Alongside flooding and coastal risk, we expect discussion on overheating and thermal comfort in existing and new housing, including implications for retrofit priorities, building standards and health outcomes, particularly for vulnerable groups. Delegates will also consider the physical and financial risks for local communities, including implications for insurance and affordability, and resilience in food and farming systems in the face of drought, heat and flooding.
The preparedness of critical sectors will be discussed, including transport, energy, water, and digital infrastructure. Areas for discussion include how to support an interconnected approach to embedding resilience measures, standardisation of data collection and reporting of risk across sectors, as well as protocols and standards for stress-testing and resilience measures.
We expect discussion on strategies for enabling coordination and collaboration across sectors, managing systemic risk and interdependencies in planning. Delegates will also address challenges including economic barriers to decision-making linked to making improvements, taking a resilience-first approach and being adaptable to evolving risk and regulation, as well as overcoming issues in voluntary reporting creating gaps in risk coverage.
Innovation & integration
Sessions will also look at emerging research and innovation priorities for adaptation and resilience, including the 2025 Climate Adaptation Research and Innovation Framework and launch of the MACC Hub.
Further discussion is expected on priorities for improving the UK’s assessment of climate risk to inform decision-making, advancing innovative adaptation initiatives across sectors and supply chains, supporting the development and transfer of best practice in communities, and embedding adaptation and resilience in workforce skills to help support local authorities, infrastructure operators and financial institutions.
All delegates will be able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices, and more widely. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates. As well as key stakeholders, those already due to attend include officials from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero; Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, NI; Department for Communities, NI; Department for Infrastructure, NI; Department for the Economy, NI; Ministry of Defence; HM Revenue and Customs; Climate Change Committee; Environment Agency; Office for Environmental Protection; Ofwat; National Audit Office; National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority; Transport Scotland; Isle of Man Government; Government Legal Department; Office for Investment; National Wealth Fund; Home Office; Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, ROI; the Welsh Government; and The Scottish Government.
