Scottish Government consults on draft Climate Change Adaptation Programme

The final policy document will address the threats and opportunities identified for Scotland as part of last year's UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA). These include increased risks of disruption from flooding and other extreme weather events, reduced river flows and water availability during the summer and the increased risks of pests and diseases to the agriculture and forestry industries.

The draft, which is open for comments until 27 September, was published on the same day as the UK's Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra's) National Adaptation Programme (NAP) for Government, business and local authorities in England. Environment expert Jacqueline Cook of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that the Scottish Government's proposals were still "very high level". However, the consultation process would give Scottish businesses "an opportunity to inform the policy approach to a key strategic issue which will continue to feature on the political agenda", she said.

"The draft programme effectively seeks to remove barriers to adaptation, to enable projects to be responsive to change in the longer term," she said. "It is likely to result in incremental regulatory refinements, rather than a wholesale revision of existing regimes."

"While the implementation of the final programme could increase the financial and administrative burden on developers in the immediate future, it should positively impact on the sustainability and longevity of a project, ultimately helping to preserve capital value," she said.

As well as drawing up policies to enable Scotland to prepare for the "unavoidable impacts" of climate change, the Scottish Government is also taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to lessen future impacts. It already has "ambitious annual emissions reduction targets", and the draft programme includes policies and proposals for meeting those targets.

"Developers could eventually see pre-application assessment expand to take into account wider resilience implications, enhanced monitoring and reporting requirements through the life of a project and a more rigorous, holistic approach to future-proofing," Cook said.

Published in January 2012, the CCRA was the UK's first assessment of the current and predicted impacts of climate change until 2100 using current, available evidence. Under the Climate Change Act, the CCRA will be updated every five years to take account of new climate observations and improved understanding of future climate change and risk.

The UK climate has become hotter and wetter in recent years, and featured more extreme weather events such as winter storms, cold winters and flooding. Climate projections for the next century indicate that these trends will "continue and intensify" over the coming decade, according to the Scottish Government's consultation. The likely effects include fluctuating temperatures, and more prolonged periods of high rainfall or drought.

According to recent research by PwC for the UK Government, 64% of UK businesses have already suffered supply chain disruption due to extreme weather and 70% of major businesses and their suppliers see significant risks arising from climate change. However, only 40% of large businesses in the UK are currently taking action to ensure that they are ready to deal with the impact of climate change.

The UK NAP cites research by the Office of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) suggesting that every £1 spent on climate change adaptation could be worth four times its value in potential damages avoided. The floods of 2007 cost businesses around £740m, with average costs per affected business reaching £100,000 and some not surviving at all, according to the report.