Climate adaptation has been a very important topic for many years now, especially in England. The fact is, we’re not equipped to handle extreme temperatures because it was never a problem in the past. However, heatwaves, flooding, high winds, and other conditions are becoming more commonplace. A lot of our housing, infrastructure, and commercial architecture will struggle. If we don’t adapt, there could be massive problems.
Progress
While there is broad acknowledgement that adaptation is necessary, has there been any real progress here? Sadly, the Climate Change Committee recently said no. Their latest report is damning on the Government, both the previous Conservative one and the current Labour administration.
The CCC has an obligation to report biannually on climate progress in the UK. The 2025 edition was released at the end of April. Disappointingly, they say there hasn’t been much progress on the outcomes from 2023. In fact, they said there was no evidence to give any of them a “good” score for delivery.
The issue
If you look at the 2025 CCC report, you can see how important climate adaptation is. Most importantly, it says 6.3 million properties currently have a flood risk because of rising sea levels, river flooding, and surface water. Alarmingly, it could grow to 8 million by 2050. It means homes, commercial architecture, and other properties could suffer devastating flooding.
There is a big risk to infrastructure too. The current figures say more than a third of rail and road networks are at risk of flooding. Again the estimate is it will increase, closing in on 50% by 2050. There are fears about power lines too, especially when there are periods of extreme heat.
Julia King, the chair of the Climate Change Committee, gave a warning the government needs to act on climate adaptation. Crucially, they need to move away from “ineffective and outdated ways of working”. They make it harder to future-proof the UK.
One of the most important comments here was to clarify that the threat of climate change “is greatest for the most vulnerable”. Vital pieces of infrastructure like hospitals and schools do not have the resilience to withstand heatwaves and flooding. It can seriously compromise health and wellbeing, as well as education.
What to do?
The CCC gave some recommendations to get things on track and start making progress on climate adaptation. One of them is to focus on emerging technologies that could be incredibly beneficial. For example, carbon capture and storage technologies could help to reduce global warming.
Talk to us about commercial architecture
Coffey Architects can work with clients to create exceptional buildings able to cope with various conditions. For example, we can work in busy urban areas where heating, cooling, and overshadowing are big problems. Or it could be rural spots close to rivers where there is a higher risk of floods. Whatever the location and challenges, we’ll adapt the designs to suit them.
So, if you want help with commercial architecture, homes and housing, or other buildings, speak to us. We’d love to see what you have in mind and deliver designs to ensure climate resilience.