One of the commitments in the 2030 Hull Carbon Neutral Strategy was to develop a Climate Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan for the city. This was to be done by the end of 2021.
Over 12 to 18 months, we held consultation events and published discussion documents. This was to gather as much detail as possible on the climate risks and adaptation challenges facing the city from climate change.
We have a very well-developed understanding and approach to the threat posed by -
- increased rainfall
- drought
- tidal surge
- sea level rise
Our understanding of some of the other impacts such as -
- heatwaves
- supply chain vulnerability
- infrastructure
are not so well understood.
Climate Risk Assessment and Adaptation Planning Service to Organisations and Businesses
The climate is changing. There is an increasing number and strength of weather events over the coming years. It is important that -
- the council
- residents
- organisations
- businesses
in the city are able to understand the impacts of these events and take steps to reduce this impact. This is known as climate adaptation or resilience. It is an important part of how as a city we can carry on doing business in a world with a changed climate.
The first step in understanding what impact these events might have is to undertake a Climate Risk Assessment. Through these, organisations consider how their organisation has been affected in the past by such events. They then take a look into the future and consider how these, and other events, might affect your organisation going forward.
For businesses and those providing a service, it is important to understand how these events might affect your supply chain. This along with how you can support your supply chain to become resilient. Particularly, if there are critical resources to your business or organisation that are vulnerable.
The council has undertaken climate adaptation risk assessments of some of its key services. This is as part of the process of understanding what we need to do. We have developed assessments with our -
- housing
- highways
- parks and gardens
- Waste Management Services
We are in the process of working with our Adult Social Care Services and Public Health to develop their assessments.
The council’s Climate Change Team can assist businesses and organisations in the city. This is for free. It is to understand how they might be affected and what steps they can start to take to increase resilience. This does not always mean that you need to spend lots of money. Some adaptations can be done by -
- changing current practices
- making the right choices when you do invest
- working with your staff, suppliers and customers
Email the Climate Change Team at climate.change@hullcc.gov.uk. They can arrange a meeting or telephone call with you. This can help you to understand how you can become more adapted to climate change. They can help you understand how your organisation or business might be affected by the climate change and extreme weather events.