Climate change is the single biggest risk facing the planet according to the 2021 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Our Group businesses are already experiencing many climate change impacts, and these are expected to increase, with temperatures anticipated to be at least 1.5°-2°C this century. Addressing climate change is not just a global issue, local impacts will be felt, and local action needs to be taken. Our region is particularly vulnerable to climate change as we have 860 miles of coastline, and our proximity to the Atlantic Ocean means our area is exposed to impacts from rising sea levels and storm intensity.
Future trends for the South West show that by 2050 we could see a 3°C increase in average summer daily temperatures, with a 5°C increase by 2080, rainfall will become more variable with much drier summers and a fivefold increase in heavy rainfall events and by the end of the century sea levels are predicted to be 0.5-0.8m higher than they are today.
Climate adaptation
In December 2021, we published our climate change adaptation report. We have invested to ensure that we have the tools and data to understand the impact of climate change on our operations and services and have assessed over 60 climate-related risks that could affect the services and the environment we rely on, each of which has been assessed using our Corporate Risk Framework. Assessing climate change risks, and the potential impacts, and possible mitigations on our various operations, assets and networks, is an ongoing and iterative process.
We are taking the opportunity to further our resilience this year as we update our Climate Adaptation Report as part of the UK government’s adaptation reporting cycle to feed into the next UK Climate Change Risk Assessment. We have already made great progress in mitigating the impacts of climate change, but the risks from climate change are growing over time so we need more action in the future and our plans will reflect this. These are driven through:
- South West Water and Bristol Water water resource plans for the next 25 years.
- South West Water drainage plans for the next 25 years.
- South West Water and Bristol Water five-year business plan covering the period 2025-2030.
These plans can be found on their company websites.
For further details of how our business preparing for climate change please see our latest Climate Change Adaptation Report
We are core members of the Water Resources West Country Water Resources group, established in 2017 to allow improved collaboration in water resources management in the South West of England.
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures’ (TCFD)
TCFD provides a framework setting out how businesses should integrate climate change risk and opportunities into their business strategy, governance, risk management and metrics and targets. Pennon support the Financial Stability Board Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures’ (TCFD) recommendations that were introduced as mandatory reporting for 2022. Read our TCFD report for 2024.