Committees

Climate adaptation and emergency response

Inquiry

The UK is facing increasingly frequent and severe environmental and weather-related events, including storms, flooding, heatwaves and wildfires. These, and other weather and climate related events, pose growing risks to public health, infrastructure, food production, and the natural environment. The Climate Change Committee has reported that long-term economic output could fall by up to 7% due to environmental disruption. The Government is legally required to assess climate-related risks and publish a programme (the National Adaptation Programme) every five years setting out how it will address them. Our ability to adapt effectively as a country will be critical to our long-term resilience. 

Defra leads on adaptation and resilience in England and coordinates the Government’s response to major incidents, including extreme weather and natural hazards. Reducing the risk and impact of flooding and coastal erosion on people, communities, and the environment has been specified as one of Defra’s four priority outcomes. 

This long-term inquiry will examine how well the UK is preparing for and responding to environmental and weather-related risks such as landslips, wildfires, drought and coastal erosion. It will explore the effectiveness of national strategies, the integration of resilience into wider planning and investment decisions, and the adequacy of current systems to protect people, places and nature.  

The inquiry will also consider the Government’s capacity to respond to major emergencies, including both natural hazards and recovery from incidents that cause environmental damage. This will encompass the capacity of local authorities, emergency services, and communities to prepare for, respond to, and recover from such events.    

The Committee will call for evidence on a regular basis and produce iterative and focused reports throughout the inquiry.  

Topics for scrutiny will include, but are not limited to:  

  • The nature and scale of changing climate and weather risks to communities and the economy.  
  • The effectiveness of natural hazard risk and emergency response, for example to wildfires, land slips and storms.  
  • Resilience to extreme weather including heatwaves, drought and increased rainfall.  
  • Climate adaptation and nature-based solutions. 
  • Resilience of critical national infrastructure including food and water security. 
  • Incident recovery and response to domestic environmental disasters including impact on local emergency services. 
  • Impact and mitigation of coastal erosion and sea level rise. 
  • How land use changes can affect the impact of climate and weather-related events.  
  • Local government and community response to weather and climate events 
  • Risks and impact of climate and weather events associated with food production.  
  • Departmental responsibilities and co-ordination of cross-government impacts of climate and extreme weather, including health, transport, housing and human costs.  

If you have information or evidence which may be of interest to the Committee, please contact: efracom@parliament.uk

This inquiry is no longer accepting evidence

The deadline for submissions was 1:00am on 16 May 2026.

Upcoming events

View all events

No upcoming events scheduled

Past events

Tuesday 23 June 2026
10:00am Public
Climate adaptation and emergency response - Oral evidence 23 June 2026
10:00am
  • Rob Gazzard MICFor MRICS (Wildfire and Contingency Planning Advisor at Forestry Commission)
  • Phil Garrigan OBE KSFM (Chair at National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC))
  • Professor Emma Howard Boyd CBE (Chair at National Heat Risk Commission)
11:00am
  • Richard Bailey (Group Coordinator at Peak District moorland group)
  • Professor Sallie Bailey (Chief Scientist at Natural England)
  • Henrietta Appleton (Policy Officer at Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust)
Room 6, Palace of Westminster
Tuesday 18 November 2025
9:30am Private
10:00am Public
Climate adaptation and emergency response - Oral evidence 18 November 2025
10:00am
  • Karen Thomas (Strategic Lead for Coastal Management and Adaptation at East Suffolk Council)
  • Natasha Dix (Service Director for Waste, Environment and Planning at Isle of Wight Council)
  • Rob Goodliffe (Coastal Transition Manager at North Norfolk District Council)
  • Richard Jackson (Coastal Change Manager at East Riding of Yorkshire Council)
11:10am
  • Julie Foley (Director of FCERM Strategy and Adaptation at Environment Agency)
  • Jaap Flikweert (Coastal representative, Anglian Eastern RFCC, and Flood and Coastal Management Advisor at Haskoning)
Room 6, Palace of Westminster
Tuesday 9 September 2025
9:30am Private
10:00am Public
Oral evidence session 9 September 2025
Reforming the water sector - Oral evidence
10:00am
  • Emma Hardy MP (Minister for Water and Flooding at Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
  • David Hallam (Director for Floods and Water at Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Climate adaptation and emergency response - Oral evidence
11:00am
  • Emma Hardy MP (Minister for water and flooding at Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs)
  • David Hallam (Director for Floods and Water at Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs)
Preventing waste and enabling a circular economy - Oral evidence
11:30am
  • Emma Hardy MP (Minister for Water and Flooding at Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs)
  • David Hallam (Director for Floods and Water at Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs)
Room 6, Palace of Westminster

Contact us

We receive a significant number of emails each day. All requests and invitations are considered but we do not respond directly to everyone. Please be aware, the committee does not look at individual cases or specific complaints.

  • Email: efracom@parliament.uk
  • Address: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA