Climate Change Adaptation Support

The impacts and consequences of extreme weather events are multi-faceted and can affect your organisation in many ways, including preventing access to premises, affecting stability of your supply chains, damage and associated costs to buildings you manage, and having negative implications on health and wellbeing for your staff and stakeholders. These impacts are becoming more frequent and severe, and organisations and businesses face increasing disruption, financial loss and loss of reputation unless they adapt to the impacts effectively. At SWM, we encourage everyone to give adaptation the attention it deserves by making it one of our eight Roadmap areas.

>> Check out this slideshow that summarises the importance of adaptation, an overview of relevant policy and legislation, how SWM can help your organisation to adapt and our track record. Scan the QR codes found in the bottom corner of the slides to access more details.

What does SWM do?

We consider how the impacts of climate change could affect an organisation’s operations and services through upskilling, risk assessing and engagement. We then advise how organisations can adapt to these impacts by producing bespoke action plans.

When supporting organisations on adaptation, we can:

• Co-develop a climate change adaptation plan for your organisation.
• Produce a climate change risk assessment and analyse climate projections for your area.
• Provide guidance, tools and resources to help implement your own plans and accelerate implementation.
• Run engagement and/or training sessions and workshops to help embed climate adaptation across your organisation/ local area.

>> Check out this slideshow that summarises the importance of adaptation, an overview of relevant policy and legislation, how SWM can help your organisation to adapt and our track record. Scan the QR codes found in the bottom corner of the slides to access more details.

Who does SWM serve?

Any public, private or third sector organisation.

Previous clients and case studies have included Defra, the Environment Agency (project 1 and project 2), the Climate Change Committee (project 1 and project 2), the West Midlands Combined Authority and Herefordshire Council.

Three problems can SWM solve?

1. Understanding and knowledge on adaptation
2. Capacity to address adaptation
3. Embedding adaptation in your organisation

What is the solution for each problem?

1. Running training sessions with staff to upskill them on the importance of climate change adaptation and to raise awareness of the key impacts and implications.
2. Developing a tailored adaptation plan that is bespoke and realistic, considering each organisation’s unique risks and challenges.
3. Run an engagement programme in order to highlight the key messages from the plan, ensure actions are assigned to staff from across the organisation and emphasise how the actions could also support the delivery of the key strategic priorities of the organisation.

Why choose SWM?

• We have a deep understanding of climate change risk, impacts and adaptation and are one of the few organisations to do so.
• We have a track record of supporting organisations with adapting to climate change and delivering plans and engagement around them.
• We have experience of working across sectors and can tailor our approach so it is bespoke for each organisation.
• We are a not-for-profit company – meaning your investment in us will go back into supporting our sustainability objectives for the region.

Why is SWM an expert voice in this area?

Since we launched in 2002, we have shared good practice and supported organisations with climate change adaptation. We have led adaptation programmes on behalf of Defra, the Environment Agency and the Climate Change Committee and continue to support our local stakeholders with this topic. We are the only organisation in our region that has the necessary expertise to realistically advise organisations on what they need to do to adapt.

Whilst we work primarily in the West Midlands, we have used our expertise to support organisations across the whole of the UK.

>> Check out this slideshow that summarises the importance of adaptation, an overview of relevant policy and legislation, how SWM can help your organisation to adapt and our track record. Scan the QR codes found in the bottom corner of the slides to access more details.

The resources we have published on climate adaptation include:

• The publication of the first West Midlands Climate Change Adaptation Plan
• Weathering the Storm – a guide on how SMEs can become more resilient
• Weathering the Storm for Agriculture – a practical guide for farmers and land managers
• Adapt to Survive: A Tool for Building Resilience to Climate Change into Health Care Systems
• A case study suite showcasing practical examples of how local authorities can implement adaptation projects
• A Summary of the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) 2021 for England
• 17 UK CCRA Sector Briefings
• Advice on improving the accessibility of the UK CCRA Synthesis Report and other outputs
• Understanding how behaviours can influence climate change risks (with AECOM)
• Local Enterprise Partnerships Resilient Growth Information Note

“48% of all UK businesses are already impacted by the physical effects of climate change.”

– Gallagher, 2023