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The National Fire Chiefs Council has published a new set of recommendations on the preparedness, resilience, mitigation and adaptation strategies the UK needs to adopt to be prepared to withstand current and future impacts of climate change. It is calling on the government to take urgent action to help protect communities, infrastructure and the economy as extreme weather events look set to increase.
After the damage caused by recent storms in the northern part of the UK and in Ireland as well as the shocking destruction caused by wildfires in Los Angeles, NFCC Chair Mark Hardingham said: “it is impossible not to be concerned about the very real and immediate threat climate change poses to our planet and what that will mean for our communities in the future.”
The NFCC pointed out the significant levels of resources required by fire and rescue services to respond increasing numbers of flooding incidents across the country while maintaining ‘business as usual.’
“Fire and rescue services are on the frontline of responding to extreme weather events and we see firefighters, Control officers and other emergency service partners repeatedly going above and beyond to protect their communities. But we are seeing the risks around extreme weather increasing and, without adequate investment and further action from government, our capacity to keep communities safe and protect infrastructure is at risk”.
Mark Hardingham, Chair, NFCC.
Fire and rescue services do not receive specific funding for responding to flooding and the Fire Brigades Union has pressed the new government to consider a funded statutory duty for fire and rescue services to recognise the growing demand for this response.
Citing Met Office data that shows by 2070, winters are projected to be up to 4.5°C warmer and 30% wetter than they were in 1990, and summers may be up to 6°C warmer and 60% drier, the NFCC pointed towards weather extremes that are expected to become more likely, with regions in the south of England projected to experience temperatures reaching 40°C and increased rainfall by up to 25%.
Among the recommendations in the NFCC Climate Change Position Statement, the NFCC is urging the UK Government and devolved administrations to provide better data to fire and rescue services and their partners in the 38 Local Resilience Forums to improve planning as well as improving how climate risk information is shared among the public sector. Fire chiefs are also calling for updates to building safety legislation to ensure new buildings are resilient to the impact of climate change while maintaining safety.
This call from the NFCC comes shortly after the government published an update to the National Risk Register setting out the likelihood and impact of 89 risks, including flooding, wildfires and extreme heat.
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