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Climate change is already impacting communities across the UK and reality is setting in that, over the next 50 years, there will be even more devastating consequences.
Planning has the proven capability to provide lasting resilience. It can implement local measures such as sustainable drainage and secure development which is intrinsically resilient by design. But it can do far more than that. Planning could also provide a strategic framework to deal with the impact of at least 1.15 metres of sea level rise by 2100. But the system is not fulfilling its potential.
The specific challenge for planning is to think about how these issues will play out over the lifespan of development (usually a minimum of 100 years) and to consider future climate impacts, for example how sea level will continue to rise after 2100. Our response now will lock us into certain irreversible pathways.
This implies new ways of thinking and working. Time is running out for us to begin building resilience, so we need immediate, radical action.
The TCPA has a strong track record in research, policy formulation and political influence on, among other things, climate adaptation and mitigation in the context of spatial planning. This has been informed by a comprehensive body of knowledge supported by both UK research and a series of European-funded projects on adaptation, green infrastructure, human health and sustainable energy.
Please click on the links below to access all the resources produced by the TCPA about planning for climate change, including recordings of past TCPA webinars and online workshops and for further information on the TCPA's climate change training offer.