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 meet its obligations under Article 2, section 1b of the Paris Agreement.

In December 2020, the UK became one of the first countries in the world to fulfil a key commitment of the Paris Agreement by publishing its first Adaptation Communication. This sets out what the UK is doing to prepare for the effects of climate change at home, and support those facing impacts overseas. Aims include to increase the visibility and profile of adaptation and its balance with mitigation and enhance learning and understanding of adaptation needs and actions. The UK government provided a short update in October 2021, to signal its ongoing commitment to transparency on the adaptation action we are taking.

The third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3), published in July 2023, addresses all 61 risks and opportunities identified in the third Climate Change Risk Assessment. NAP3 includes dedicated responses to risks to domestic agricultural productivity and UK food availability, safety, and quality from climate change overseas. This publication marks a step-change in the UK government's approach to climate adaptation. We’re responding to threats to domestic food production through our Environmental Land Management farming schemes, better protecting hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses with a record-breaking £5.2 billion investment in flood and coastal schemes, and safeguarding future water supplies by working with regulators to accelerate £2.2 billion of investment through our ambitious Plan for Water.

Adapting to this changing climate is vital to strengthen our national security and resilience and to protect the economy from higher costs in the future. We are working with the Met Office Hadley Centre and others to develop R&D which will help enhance the resilience of the agri-food system in response to climate change.