This second National Adaptation Programme (NAP) sets out government’s response to the second Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA), showing the actions government is, and will be, taking to address the risks and opportunities posed by a changing climate. It forms part of the five-yearly cycle of requirements laid down in the Climate Change Act 2008 to drive a dynamic and adaptive approach to building our resilience to climate change.

Achieving long term goals in the face of uncertainty requires many steps along a pathway that cannot be fully laid out from the start. The nature of the Act’s framework allows for iteration and evaluation as we progress. This means we can build on the achievements of, and learn lessons from, the previous cycle of assessment and reporting and set out a flexible pathway that will enable us to adapt as risks evolve in the future. This report focuses on the key actions we will be taking over the next five years to strengthen our resilience to climate change. The NAP is intended to communicate the extent, nature and immediacy of different climate risks and what we are doing to address them, which will help inform a more mature debate on how we adapt as a society.

The first NAP contained over 370 actions addressing some 100 risks identified in the first CCRA. These included actions such as embedding adaptation into delivery of the Natural Environment White Paper and Biodiversity 2020 and developing a strategic plan for coastal realignment. In preparing the second CCRA and NAP report, government sought to follow the recommendations of the Adaptation Sub-Committee (ASC), our statutory advisers on climate adaptation, to set more focused priorities and specific and measurable objectives that clearly contribute to adaptation outcomes, and to be clear on how these will be monitored and evaluated.

For the first time we have integrated within the NAP the important work which will be done by reporting organisations under the Adaptation Reporting Power. We set out how government’s strategy for the third cycle of reporting contributes to and links up with our overall programme of work on adaptation. We illustrate the contributions from a range of reporting organisations in infrastructure sectors, and reporting public bodies, including those responsible for water, energy, transport, communications, environment, fisheries, heritage, health and finance, and how they are addressing many risks across the CCRA.

The NAP explains the range of climate risks which affect our natural environment, our critical infrastructure services, our communities and buildings, local government and businesses. The importance of adapting to these climate challenges and transitioning to a low carbon economy is set out, drawing on a large body of ongoing work across government. This NAP builds on this work, including the incorporation of Natural Capital approaches in HMT guidance and the announcement of successful bids for the peatland grant scheme. The government’s £2.6 billion six-year capital investment programme to reduce flood and coastal erosion risk will provide over £30 billion in economic benefits. We are also working with key infrastructure sectors on a wide range of climate risks, and greater integration of climate in the health and planning systems.