UK Climate Resilience Programme

From 2019 to 2023, the UK Climate Resilience programme drew together fragmented climate research and expertise to deliver robust, multi-disciplinary climate risk and solutions research, ensuring the UK is resilient to climate variability and change. 

The programme was led by the Met Office and Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), in partnership with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), and the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) Adaptation Sub-Committee.

It is widely recognised that the impacts of extreme weather and climate change permeate throughout society affecting both lives and livelihoods. UK flooding events in 2007 affected 55,000 homes, killed 13 people and cost the UK economy £3.2 billion. Global impacts of extreme weather events also affect the UK, for example international food production. The situation is exacerbated when events are compounded, for example the co-occurrence of hot and dry summers. As the climate warms, extreme events and the ensuing costs to society will increase.

This programme aimed to answer major questions:

• How do we make our cities and regions resilient to climate change?
• What are the opportunities to manage our adaptation to a low carbon future so it can deliver improvements to society and economic growth?

In answering these questions, the programme developed robust approaches, such as software tools, to improve near-term climate forecasts and quantify current and future risk. It conducted fundamental research to effectively manage adaptation of low carbon approaches, promoted behaviour changes, and created novel co-production processes and industry quality standards which could deliver environmental benefits.

Read the joint UKRI & Met Office Science Plan (published July 2019)

Visit the UK Climate Resilience Programme website for more information