Climate change and flooding: facing the future

There is currently an uneasy relationship between the UK government, the insurance industry and property owners who have insured their homes against flooding. One in six homes in England and Wales is at risk of some form of flooding and home owners are seeing property prices and insurance premiums affected by flood risk. The government has urged the insurance industry to reduce premiums and excesses for those property owners who have put measures in place to secure their homes against flooding. Currently, homeowners in flood risk areas face higher premiums and excesses but have not seen a similar reduction where they have invested in protecting their properties and reducing their risk. At the same time, estate agencies are now reporting that homeowners will find it much easier to sell houses that have flood defence measures “built in” already. Here, in an edited extract from his speech to the Flood and Coastal Risk Management Conference in Telford, chairman of the UK’s Environment Agency, Lord Chris Smith identifies the impact of climate change - more frequent severe weather and rising sea levels - as particular challenges for the government, the insurance industry and the communities at risk of flooding. In particular, he looks at the lessons learned by the government from the 2007 floods and reviews the measures that have been put in place to defend those at risk. In terms of the future, he outlines, among other developments, the government’s expectations for the Floods and Water Management Bill which is included in the draft legislative programme for the fifth session of Parliament

Forty years ago we were at the culmination of the space race – the first man on the moon – and how notable it is that NASA has probably done more to warn about the threat of climate change than any other single organisation.