§ Lord Ponsonby of Shulbredeasked Her Majesty's Government:
What work the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is doing on the impacts of climate change. [HL3991]
§ Lord WhittyThe UK Climate Change Programme outlines the Government's approach on adaptation to climate change. An important component of this is the ability to assess possible impacts and adaptation options. To address this, the department has provided a further three years of funding for the UK Climate Impacts Programme to help the public and private sector carry out studies to assess what climate change may mean for them and how to prepare for it.
To help such assessments, new climate change scenarios for the UK will be published on 26 April 2002. These contain important information on how the UK's climate may change in future as a result of greenhouse gas emissions. Copies of the scenario reports will be placed in the Libraries of the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
In addition, the Government have recently begun an inter-departmental process to consider the implications of climate change. The department is 59WA participating in this activity and has also commissioned a survey of the implications of climate change for its policies and operational responsibilities. The study should be completed this year.