The Local Climate Adaptation Tool (LCAT) is evidence-based and designed with and for local decision makers. It gives individuals and teams the best available evidence in making decisions and identifying actions required to adapt to a changing climate.
As the world warms, increased temperatures and extreme weather events have severe implications for services ranging from emergency services to highways maintenance and social care. Climate science is complex and hard to navigate and it can be difficult to understand implications for specific fields and how best to avoid the worst impacts.
The new tool makes the latest climate science accessible to decision makers in these fields and more, allowing them to plan for the future to provide the best services possible in a changing landscape.
Use the LCAT to see what scientific research is saying about:
- How local climates will change
- What health and community impacts may occur as a result
- Who will be most vulnerable and why
- Which adaptations to consider
The LCAT has been developed by a team from the University of Exeter and Cornwall Council, with input from more than 50 other local authority areas across the UK. Decision-makers involved in the development include councils, health and emergency services.
LCAT has been designed to help local organisations increase their adaptation response to local climate change, something a recent government report describes as having ‘failed to keep pace with the worsening reality of climate risk.’
LCAT is being developed in a staged approach, additional features are planned and improvements will be made with feedback from users. The University of Exeter and Cornwall Council team will continue to work with partners to review and improve the national platform on an ongoing basis in order to provide the best available information and evidence to those making critical decisions for their communities.
Chris Stark, Chief Executive The Climate Change Committee, which advises the government on tackling and preparing for climate change, states:
“Global warming can no longer be described as a future event and from flooding to heatwaves, the consequences are more and more apparent. Local adaptation to climate change is vitally important and is not making the progress we need to ensure the resilience of local communities. Tools such as the Local Climate Adaptation Tool (LCAT) are a vital resource to support our local decision makers take urgent action to address our already changing climate and help towards reducing further impact.”
A free webinar to learn how the tool was created, how it works, and how to start using it to better to understand the impacts of climate change will be held on 26 March.
