Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the costs to his Department of extreme weather events related to climate change on the level of economic growth since 1 January 2020; and what steps he is taking to help reduce those costs through (a) adaptation and (b) resilience measures.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has not made an assessment of the financial cost to the Department (either in terms of physical damage, disruption to operations or employee productivity) of extreme weather events during the period in question. Officials are working with GIAA and their ongoing cross government review of compliance with Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and we will consider their recommendations when these are published. The Government Property Agency manages the department's estate and has responsibility for relevant climate change risk assessments and adaptation plans.

Since October 2023, the Department has supported eligible SME businesses to deal with the impacts of extreme weather events on their premises via the Business Recovery Grants scheme. This formed part of the Government’s wider support package to communities under the Flooding Recovery Framework. Prior to the creation of DBT in April 2023, the scheme was operated by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). DBT does not hold data on the schemes managed by BEIS prior to October 2023.

More broadly, DBT is working to deliver on its commitments under the Third National Adaptation Plan - supporting businesses to adapt to the risks of climate change and take advantage of future opportunities for economic growth. This has informed our priorities under the Industrial Strategy, Trade Strategy and Plan for Small Business.

DBT will also be working closely with Defra as they develop the Government's approach to the Fourth National Adaptation Programme, which will apply from 2028, following recent advice from the CCC that the government should prepare for 2°C of warming by 2050).