Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to assess the impacts of rising sea levels; and what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of rising sea levels.

UK marine and coastal areas are being impacted by climate change, including through sea level rise. These impacts have consequences throughout the UK on livelihoods, ecosystems, communities and society. We are improving our understanding of the impact of climate change and rising sea levels through the Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP). MCCIP engages with a wide range of scientific authors to supply policy makers and the public with updates on the current and predicted impacts of climate change.

In the UK we are committed to ensuring that climate change adaptation, resilience and mitigation are fully considered and integrated in our policies. Under the Climate Change Act, government committed to laying policies and proposals before parliament to address risks identified by the third Climate Change Risk Assessment. We will do so through the third National Adaptation Programme, published 17 July 2023.

As climate change leads to sea level rise and more extreme rainfall, the number of people at risk from flooding and coastal erosion is likely to grow. The Government announced in March 2020 a record £5.2 billion investment over six years in flood and coastal erosion schemes to better protect communities across England. In July 2020, the Government published a long-term Policy Statement, which sets out our ambition to create a nation more resilient to future flood and coastal erosion risk.