Институт гражданских инженеров призвал правительство Великобритании провести независимый экономический обзор адаптации к климатическим изменениям

The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) has called on the UK government to commission an independent economic review into climate adaptation, arguing that a new assessment of the costs and benefits of preparing infrastructure for climate change is needed. In its new report, Making resilience count: The economic value of climate readiness, ICE said the rising price of not being ready for climate change is becoming more and more apparent. This summer, European wildfires caused more than €3bn (£2.6bn) in damage, while in the UK heatwaves have been estimated to cost at least £1bn in lost productivity. ICE further noted heat-related deaths are expected to be the highest on record. The ICE’s main recommendation is for a review with “similar catalysing impact” to landmark studies such as the Stern Review on the economics of climate change and the Dasgupta Review on biodiversity. Those earlier reviews prompted changes to policy frameworks where the ICE points to the Stern Review’s role in shaping UK carbon budgets, which it says contributed to a 54% fall in greenhouse gas emissions between 1990 and 2025. ICE wants the review to be commissioned centrally by government but to retain an independent element, with a senior minister made accountable for implementing its findings. The remit would look beyond single sectors to adopt a whole-systems approach covering transport, water and power networks, and to assess impacts across multiple timescales – short term (2030–2040), medium term (to 2050) and long term (to 2100). This cross-sector, multi-decade perspective would make it easier to identify immediate risks and to capture interdependencies and failures between sectors, the report argues. These factors are routinely under‑valued in investment and regulatory decisions, the ICE said. The report also calls for the review to map data ownership and accessibility and to recommend what would be required to make existing datasets useful for resilience planning. While “a lot of data” exists, the ICE said it is fragmented across bodies and organisations, with gaps in understanding climate impacts. ICE suggests the exercise should draw on existing tools and methodologies developed by bodies such as the Climate Change Committee (CCC) and include interviews with sector experts, submissions from members and stakeholders and a literature review. ICE director of policy and external affairs Sam Gould said: “This summer’s heatwaves were some of the clearest evidence yet that we need to make adaptation just as much of a priority as reducing emissions. There’s an enormous opportunity to adapt our infrastructure systems, but it’s been neglected. “Critical systems with huge economic implications that people rely on, like water, power and transport networks, aren’t as resilient as they should be. Understanding the positive impact that investing in adaptation could have will help decision makers prioritise resilience across the political system.” He added: “An independent review could jump-start real change in our approach to adaptation, making the sort of progress we have seen with reducing greenhouse gas emissions possible. “We urge the government to commission an independent review into the economics of climate adaptation as soon as possible.” The report also recommends the review evaluate the role of regulators in embedding adaptation into infrastructure decisions, examining whether regulators currently incentivise resilience adequately. This includes whether they have the remit, tools and incentives to do so. The work underpinning the ICE report was supported by consultancy Frontier Economics. Like what you've read?  To receive New Civil Engineer's daily and weekly newsletters click here. climate change committee ICE Institution of Civil Engineers 2026-09-09 Tagged with: climate change committee ICE Institution of Civil Engineers