A fundamental change is required to the way in which we view flood management and flood defence in the UK: this was one of the take-home messages from the latest 21st Century Challenges Policy Forum, held at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) on Tuesday 8 November. Professor Colin Thorne, a member of the panel for the evening, drawing on
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On Tuesday, 8 November, the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) held the latest in our series of 21st Century Challenges Policy Forum discussion meetings, on ‘Achieving Sustainable Flood Risk Management in the UK‘. An audience of 100 professionals from a range of different sectors, from business and industry to academia, central and local government to Non-Governmental Organisations, convened at the
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A new guide produced by the Know Your Flood Risk campaign and co-authored by one of the speakers at the RGS-IBG’s forthcoming Policy Forum on flood risk management, encourages home owners to do more to protect themselves and their properties from flooding. The ‘Homeowners Guide to Flood Resilience‘ aims to ’empower people to be aware, prepare and take practical precautions
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The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Parliamentary Select Committee has today (2 November) released a report into flood risk management in the UK that the committee’s chair, Neil Parish MP, describes as ‘radical’ in its proposals. Setting out their view that the current systems of flood risk management (FRM) in this country are unfit for purpose, the Committee call for
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Cookers at eye-level, water-resistant floor tiles, waterproof brickwork and water pumps: these are all measures that householders and businesses can install to protect their premises from the worst effects of flooding, and to allow them to continue their lives as normal after a flood event. Yet it is not yet standard practice in flood-affected areas to install such ‘Property Level Resilience’
Read moreAn infographic from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) provides an at-a-glance overview of current trends in the UK energy system. Published in the summer 2016 edition of the ESRC’s magazine, ‘Society Now‘, statistics from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (now part of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) provide an insight into the challenge faced
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A low-carbon economy – with a target of an 80% reduction in carbon dioxide levels, on 1990 levels, by 2050 – is a long-standing objective of UK energy policy. But what will a low-carbon economy look like and what will it be like to live there? A paper in Energy Policy by Gavin Bridge and colleagues (‘Geographies of energy transition:
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There is growing recognition amongst policy-makers and land managers that poor land stewardship can exacerbate the risks of floods and droughts, with the need to ‘work with natural processes’ in order to both increase resilience to climate change and deliver positive conservation outcomes. Such ‘win-wins’ resulting from the integrated management of land and water are the focus of a joint statement from the Society
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The panel for the next in the series of 21st Century Challenges: Policy Forum events is now complete. ‘Achieving Sustainable Flood-Risk Management in the UK‘ will take place at the Society on Tuesday 8th November, chaired by BBC Environment Analyst Roger Harrabin. The panellists are: Martin Rogers, Flood Management and Access Adviser, National Farmers’ Union Carly Rose, Associate Consultant, Mary
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Are we likely to meet our targets to increase the use of renewables to 15% of our total energy use by 2020, or to decarbonise our economy by 2050? In 2040, will we as citizens and will our elected Governments prioritise reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, or material wealth for consumers, with little regard for the environment? It is of
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