Natural England - Climate change

Climate change

In this area Natural England’s aim is to ensure the natural environment is resilient in the face of climate change.

The main focus of our evidence programme is to understand the impacts of climate change and develop adaptation measures. We are also investigating the role the natural environment can play in both reducing climate change (for example by taking up and storing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere) and helping society to adapt to its consequences (for example by providing natural flood defences).

Key projects in our current programme

Monitoring:

  • Establishing the impact of air pollution and climate change on UK biodiversity (ECBN) (RP273)

  • Monitoring of greenhouse gases following changes in land management in the North Pennines (RP291)

Wider research:

  • National Climate Change Vulnerability Analysis (RP 307)

Looking forward – areas of work in our draft future programme

  • Evaluation of adaptation measures

  • Resilience of ecosystems and landscapes to climate change

  • Long-term monitoring of environmental change

Connections

A number of other projects within Natural England’s evidence programme will also contribute to our understanding of climate change, including:

  • Are the population dynamics of seabirds in the west of Britain driven by climate change ? (RP295)

  • Impacts of climate and land use change on the UK cuckoo population (RP296)

  • Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP) (RP284)

  • Peat Project: partnership initiative to protect and enhance peat soils (RP022)

  • The Peat Project: assessing impacts of wind farm development on blanket peatland in England (RP242)

  • Capturing the ‘cultural services’ and experiential qualities of landscape valued by the public in England’s Character Areas (RP082)

Project type: Research | Monitoring

Research

IDTitleDescriptionDateContact
RP307National climate change vulnerability analysisTo further refine and test a geographically explicit model for evaluating the vulnerability of terrestrial ecological systems to climate change. It will inform how the future allocation of resources and conservation management practices might need to change across both protected areas and the wider environment in order to accommodate potential vulnerability to climate change in our critical natural capital.31/03/2011Roger Catchpole

Monitoring

IDTitleDescriptionDateContact
RP273Establishing the impact of air pollution and climate change on UK biodiversity (ECBN)Natural England is part of the Environmental Change Biodiversity Network (ECBN) partnership, which is establishing a UK wide network of long-term monitoring sites to increase our ability to detect, understand and predict the effects of climate change and air pollution on biodiversity. England has 16 ECBN sites and 3 Environmental Change Network sites on National Nature Reserves or Sites of Special Scientific Interest. There are a further 4 English ECN sites on other land.31/03/2015Clive Bealey
RP291Monitoring of greenhouse gases following changes in land management in the North PenninesMoorland drainage channels on Cronkley Fell were monitored for greenhouse gas release. The channels were then blocked and greenhouse gas emissions continue to be monitored. This work will provide information on whether blocking moorland drainage channels reduces the production of greenhouses gasses and, if so, and indication of the level of the effect.01/12/2012Alistair Crowle