The UK Climate Resilience Programme ran from 2019 to 2023

UKCR Final Conference: London, 8-9 March 2023

#UKCR_Conference

The UK Climate Resilience (UKCR) Final Conference took place on 8-9 March 2023 at the Wellcome Collection in London. The event was organised by the UKCR champion team, together with programme leads at the Met Office and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

The conference was also livestreamed – links to recordings of each presentation are available below

The UKCR video What is the UK Climate Resilience Programme? was premiered at the close of Day One. The UKCR insight papers referenced on Day Two are due to be published later this year.

 

Presentations

Day One – Research Advancements – 8 March 2023

Welcome from NERC Executive Chair Sir Duncan Wingham and Met Office Chief of Science and Technology Stephen Belcher, chaired by Met Office Hadley Centre Director Albert Klein Tank

Climate Adaptation Research & Innovation Framework, Gideon Henderson (Chief Scientific Adviser at Defra)

Overview of the UK Climate Resilience Programme from UKCR Champions Kate Lonsdale and Suraje Dessai (University of Leeds) and Met Office Science Co-ordinator Jason Lowe

 

SESSIONS

SESSION ONE: Improved understanding of climate hazard, moderated by Rowan Sutton (NCAS/University of Reading)

Improving climate hazard information, Simon Brown (Met Office)

STORMY-WEATHER: Plausible storm hazards in a future climate, Colin Manning (Newcastle University)

SEARCH: Sensitivity of Estuaries to Climate Hazards, Pete Robins (Bangor University)

Discussion and Q&A

 

SESSION TWO: Improved climate risk capability, moderated by Lindsay Beevers (University of Edinburgh)

UK socio-economic scenarios, Ornella Dellaccio (Cambridge Econometrics)

Using techniques from catastrophe modelling to assess climate risk, Laura Dawkins (Met Office)

OpenCLIM: Open Climate Impacts Modelling Framework, Robert Nicholls (University of East Anglia/Tyndall Centre)

Discussion and Q&A

 

SESSION THREE: Managing climate-related risks through adaptation, moderated by Nick Pidgeon (Cardiff University)

Climacare: Overheating in care homes, Mike Davies (University College London)

MAGIC: Mobilising adaptation – governance of infrastructure through co-production, Liz Sharp (University of Sheffield)

The role of community involvement, landscapes and cultural heritage in supporting adaptation, Alice Harvey-Fishenden (University of Liverpool)

Climate resilient churches, Christopher Walsh (University of Manchester)

Discussion and Q&A

 

SESSION FOUR: Co-producing climate services, moderated by Richard Smithers (Ricardo)

Urban climate services, Victoria Ramsey (Met Office)

The eFLaG projections: future river flow and groundwater for the UK, Jamie Hannaford & Gwyn Rees (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology)

Climate services standards and value, Murray Dale (JBA Consulting)

National Framework for Climate Services, Louise Wilson and Natalie Garrett (Met Office)

Discussion and Q&A

 

Day Two – Implications for Practice & Policy – 9 March 2023

Keynote speech from Swenja Surminski (Grantham Research Institute, LSE and member of the Climate Change Committee’s Adaptation Committee), chaired by Jim Hall (University of Oxford)

 

SESSIONS

Climate hazard and risk assessment – moderated by Jason Lowe (Met Office)

Jennifer Catto (University of Exeter) and Nigel Arnell (University of Reading) – presentation drawing on the following UKCR insight papers:

  1. Improved understanding and characterisation of climate hazards in the UK
  2. Future changes in indicators of climate hazard and resource in the UK
  3. What has been learned about converting climate hazard data to climate risks information

Followed by a panel discussion with Richard Millar (Climate Change Committee), Paul Sayers (Sayers and Partners), Jennifer Catto (University of Exeter), Nigel Arnell (University of Reading) and Richard Betts (Met Office and University of Exeter)

 

Climate risk management through adaptation – moderated by Albert Klein Tank (Met Office)

Kate Lonsdale (University of Leeds) for Freya Garry and Kate Smith (University of Hull) – presentation drawing on the following UKCR insight papers:

  1. Putting climate resilience in its place: developing spatially literate climate adaptation plans
  2. Learning from arts and humanities approaches to building climate resilience in the UK

Followed by a panel discussion with Dan McCartney (Defra), Lucy Vilarkin (Bristol City Council), Emer O’Connell (Greater London Authority) and Kate Smith (University of Hull)

 

Climate services – moderated by Suraje Dessai (University of Leeds)

Mark Harrison (Met Office) – presentation drawing on the following UKCR insight papers:

  1. What have we learnt from the climate service projects delivered through the UK Climate Resilience Programme?
  2. What insights can the programme share on developing decision support tools?

Followed by a panel discussion with Katy Peat (Defra), Murray Dale (JBA Consulting), Mark Harrison (Met Office), Caitlin Douglas (Kings College London) and Natalie Garrett (Met Office)

 

The UK Climate Resilience Programme Conference wrap up from UKCR Champions Kate Lonsdale and Suraje Dessai (University of Leeds), and Met Office Science Co-ordinator Jason Lowe