INTERVIEW - Britain Aims to Lead on Adapting to Climate Change
Date: 16-Mar-07
Country: UK
Author: Jeremy Lovell
Widening gutters and sewer pipes to cope with the heavier rain climate change could bring to Britain, or pushing suppliers of home wind turbines to offer interest free credit to consumers are among the measures being considered.
And to get more people to produce energy at home, Pearson suggests power companies could lease microgeneration systems so homeowners can cut energy bills while avoiding big upfront costs to buy solar panels or wind turbines.
"Some of the thinking that is emerging in the UK at the moment on adaptation is really leading the world," Pearson told Reuters in an interview.
"It is a UK solution. But some of the tools and analytical techniques we are developing, some of the concepts that we are thinking through, have a wider international value," he said.
Britain is working with Bangladesh, China and India to help them develop practical measures to cope with global warming. It has a project in India looking at the likely effects from heatwaves on water resources, farming, forestry and people.
Because of the 30 to 40 year time lag built into the effect of carbon gases on the environment, some climate warming is inevitable no matter how much countries cut emissions, and people must be helped to cope, he said.
Scientists predict average global temperatures will rise by between 1.8 and 4.0 degrees Celsius this century from burning fossil fuels for power and transport, bringing floods, famines and storms and putting millions of lives at risk.
Most efforts to date have focused on measures to cut carbon gas emissions, partly because there is money to be made trading carbon emission credits and partly because developing successful new low carbon technology could be worth a fortune.
However measures to help people cope with the effects of climate change have been the poor relation -- mainly because they are seen only as a cost.
"People need to realise that adaptation is going to be a real issue for the future," Pearson said. "We need to climate proof our policies."
"The 2003 heatwave will become increasingly commonplace by the middle of the century. We have to make sure our houses can withstand that (through adequate insulation)," he said, referring to Europe's scorching summer of four years ago.
Coastal erosion, for centuries a problem in parts of island Britain, is getting worse due to a combination of storms and rising sea levels. Likewise flood defences are becoming a major issue for people as well as politicians.
"Climate change does bring great challenges, We all have to understand there is a need to take action," Pearson said.
