Reflections on the Climate Action Summit

Last month, I was at the United Nations General Assembly in New York in my capacity as UK Commissioner to the Global Commission on Adaptation (GCA). Last month, the GCA released a report, Adapt Now: A Global Call for Leadership on Climate Resilience, and I was helping to make sure it was understood in the international corridors of power.

Presently, climate risks are not adequately incorporated into investment decisions - particularly for infrastructure. We know all about this at the Environment Agency as we have explained in our draft national Flood and Coastal Erosion risk strategy.

On a global level, economic losses from climate related disasters are estimated at 520 billion dollars per year. The GCA’s report suggests that investing 1.9 trillion dollars in adaptation efforts globally from 2020 to 2030, could guarantee 7 trillion dollars in total net benefits. This shouldn’t be as radical as it sounds, over 90 trillion dollars is expected to be invested globally in infrastructure by 2040, especially in developing countries, it’s essential that physical climate risk is properly understood and priced.

Without action, millions of people around the world will be pushed further into poverty, conflict and instability. But - with investment - climate adaptation can deliver a “triple dividend” by avoiding future losses, generating positive economic gains through innovation, and delivering social and environmental benefits.

I wasn’t only at UNGA to talk about what should happen, I was helping the UK Government deliver action now. During UNGA the UK announced that it will double its contribution to international climate finance to 11.6 billion pounds in the next five years.

This includes up to one billion pounds to help the development, and testing, of new technology to help developing countries reduce their emissions and meet global climate change targets.

The Government wasn’t alone in announcing new initiatives. I was also pleased to help form the Coalition for Climate Resilient Investment. The CCRI brings together organisations to integrate climate risks into decision-making. I helped bring in support from the private sector. It is now supported by companies with over 5 trillion dollars in assets, including the Environment Agency Pension Fund.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development launched the first ever dedicated climate resilience bond worth 700 million dollars.

The filmmaker Richard Curtis announced a new campaign “Make My Money Matter” to help people choose sustainable investment that benefit people and planet. He said: “We are on the edge of a second Consumer Revolution – where the public realises just how powerful their own money can be.” We’ve been part of the coalition helping to advise Richard’s team by sharing expertise from the Environment Agency Pension Fund.

The work of the Environment Agency is hugely important to making these points all over the world. Our activities to protect communities from the impacts of climate change, our regulation of business’s emissions and our expert advice on development all show how to manage the climate emergency in the real world. For instance, I was able to talk about our flood strategy and work at the Bacton Flood Alleviation Scheme when I spoke at the UN on the Sunday [Comments 2 hours in].

The expertise of our future funding team also helps demonstrate the implications, and possibilities, of finance. The IGNITION project is an example. For IGNITION the Environment Agency is working in partnership with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to increase green infrastructure in Manchester by 10 per cent by 2038 using private investment.

Conclusion

There were many great initiatives launched at UNGA and I was pleased to help some of these in my capacity as GCA Commissioner, and also as Chair of the Environment Agency. These initiatives are the start of something that gives me optimism that we can manage climate change and prosper through it.

Next year, the Global Commission on Adaptation will be running a global year of action to help accelerate adaptation around the world, improve human well-being and more sustainable economic development and security.

[You can watch a video of me speaking at the launch of the Year of Action. I speak one hour in].

However, we are sadly only talking about initiatives at this stage, and one year on from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report showing the implications of failing to reduce global warming to 1.5 degrees by 2030, that isn’t enough.

If the UK hosted climate conference in 2020 is to showcase success, we need to demonstrate genuine leadership. I believe the Environment Agency can help the country do that.

The Government’s legal commitment to net zero in the UK is the sort of shift we need to trigger action needed at home and abroad to deal with a challenge as big as the planet itself.

We need to see action. Now.