§ Mr. DenhamTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the agencies that have responsibilities for planning for the consequences of climate change on coastal areas; and if she will make a statement. [137391]
§ Mr. MorleyAll agencies whose areas of work and influence will be affected by climate change, in coastal areas and elsewhere, have a responsibility to plan for the consequences of those changes.
Development planning in coastal areas is the responsibility of local planning authorities, while land and shoreline management is the responsibility of land owners, the Environment Agency and local athorities.
This Department provides guidance and assistance to planners in coastal areas by funding the UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP), other research and development programmes and by promoting the production of Shoreline Management Plans which are designed to assist local planners in making decisions on future development and coastal defence needs over a 30–100 year period, taking account of natural processes and climate change effects. The Department has provided guidance on sea-level rise allowances for design of coastal defences since 1989 and these were confirmed this year in the light of the UKCIP 2002 climate-change scenarios.
§ Mr. DenhamTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the area of coastal land that will be lost owing to the impact of climate change by 2050. [137392]
§ Mr. MorleyEstimates made by the Department suggest that some 400,000 ha of agricultural land and about 1 million properties are currently at risk of flooding from the sea. These all depend on coastal defences. In addition some 5,000 ha of agricultural land and 75,000 properties are at risk of coastal erosion. An assessment for Defra in 2001 suggested that the economic risk of coastal flooding could increase up to fivefold by the latter half of the century without any adaptation of defences. However, any loss of coastal land would depend almost entirely on the strategic coastal defence decisions made for each risk area.
The Office of Science and Technology's Foresight project on flood and coastal defence is currently examining the factors that drive change in flood and coastal erosion risk, but it has not made any estimates of land loss.
§ Mr. DenhamTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with the insurance industry regarding the insurance costs arising from climate change; and if she will make a statement. [137393]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Association of British Insurers (ABI) is involved with the work of the Defra-funded UK Climate Impacts Programme, which helps stakeholder410W organisations assess how they might be affected by climate change, so that they can develop adaptation strategies.
In addition, there have been extensive discussions with ABI over the past few years on the Government's flood management policy, the background to which includes awareness that future climate change could enhance flood risks in some areas.