Comment on State of the UK Climate 2023

Commenting on the State of the UK Climate 2023 report [1], Tom Lancaster, land, food and farming analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said: “The second warmest year in record. The seventh wettest. The wettest three day period ever. This report brings into sharp relief just how much impact climate change is having now on the UK. For farmers who had to contend with the most active start to a storm season on record, this will come as no surprise. The extreme wet weather last winter locked farmers out of their fields, as crops were left to rot. We could see this year’s harvest down by as much as fifth after many farmers failed to get their crops established. [2]

“Climate change is wreaking havoc with our food security. Farmers will need more support now to adapt, and build more resilience to floods, drought and extreme heat, and Defra’s new green farming schemes are a key part of this. But adapting to these extremes is not a long term plan. The only way we can guarantee our food security against the impacts revealed in this report is to get to net zero emissions to stop climate change worsening.”

Gareth Redmond-King, Head of International Programme at ECIU said: “Our country is getting hotter and wetter, faster. The fingerprints of climate change are all over that, as they are on more frequent and more intense extreme weather in all parts of the world. Many Brits heading off on holiday to Spain, Italy, Greece and parts of the US, will experience dangerously high temperatures this summer, and that extreme heat is fuelling wildfires, harming crops, and causing deaths. There were 3,000 UK heat-related deaths in the hottest parts of the last couple of years; more than 60,000 across Europe in the heat of 2022, when we saw a new record of 40°C.

"Acting to get to net zero emissions quickly is the only way of halting the growing danger. But we need to adapt as well, at home and abroad. As we look ahead to UN climate talks at the end of the year, countries will be expected to provide more support for poorer states struggling with climate extremes; help which, ultimately, is in all of our interests – protecting livelihoods, security and our international food supply chains.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

1. The State of the UK Climate 2023 report is published on Thursday 25 July.

2. UK food security: winter washout could cut harvests by a fifth: https://eciu.net/media/press-r...