Climate advisers tell UK to prepare for severe climate change by 2025

(MENAFN) The UK government has been urged to prepare for the impacts of at least 2°C of global warming by 2050, as the country remains “not yet adapted” to the worsening weather extremes already taking place, according to the Climate Change Committee (CCC).

In a letter to ministers, the CCC said the UK must plan for climate change that exceeds the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement, warning that existing efforts to adapt were falling behind.

“The country is not yet adapted to the weather extremes we’re already experiencing, let alone what is to come,” the committee wrote.

The independent advisory body called on the government to create a clear framework of long-term objectives, with five-yearly targets and departments made “clearly accountable” for meeting them. It added that ministers should prepare for the “minimum climate scenario” of 2°C warming and be ready to cope with associated risks.

The CCC will publish a detailed adaptation report in May 2026, outlining the trade-offs and measures needed to safeguard the UK from worsening climate impacts.

In its April 2025 report, the committee warned that preparations for rising temperatures were “too slow, stalled, or heading in the wrong direction.”

Under the Paris Agreement, signed by nearly 200 nations in 2015, countries pledged to limit global temperature rise to well below 2°C, ideally 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. But scientists now warn the world is on track to surpass 2°C, making adaptation urgent.

The CCC warned that a 2°C rise could bring more frequent and intense heatwaves, droughts, floods, and a longer wildfire season, extending into autumn.

Baroness Brown, chair of the CCC’s adaptation committee, told the BBC:
“People in the UK are already experiencing the impacts of a changing climate, and we owe it to them to prepare—and to help them prepare.”

She added that adaptation efforts were not keeping pace with the growing risks, saying the government “needs more ambition.”

Baroness Brown also criticised Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch for pledging to scrap the UK’s landmark Climate Change Act and replace it with a plan focused on “cheap and reliable” energy.

Calling the proposal “disappointing,” she said she hoped Badenoch would reconsider:
“The act covers both adaptation and mitigation, and it’s vital that we don’t abandon that framework.”

The CCC’s message adds to growing pressure on the government to act decisively as climate-related disasters—such as floods, wildfires, and heatwaves—become increasingly severe across the UK.

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