Comment on UK’s Third Climate Change Risk Assessment 2022

Commenting on the UK’s Third Climate Change Risk Assessment 2022, finding that economic damages could exceed £1 billion per year each by 2050 with a temperature rise of 2°C, Matt Williams, Climate and Land Programme Lead at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said:

"The damage caused to the UK by climate change will be greater than the investments needed to avoid harmful levels of warming. This will include impacts on our British countryside, the carbon locked up in trees and peatlands, and on food production with potential rises in food prices. Agriculture and land have been singled out as the weak link in the Government's net zero plan. It's clear that farmers and the natural world need help not just in cutting emissions, but in adapting to the impacts of climate change too.

"By incentivising farmers to restore nature while feeding the nation, more carbon will be locked up in hedges, and trees, communities can be protected from extreme weather events such as flooding by habitats that slow the flow of water, and food production can be underpinned by healthy soils, more pollinators, and eventually a more stable climate."