Climate Adaptation Framework for NHS organisations – Further Guidance
This could include hard interventions (such as flood defences or changes to building design), use of nature-based solutions (such as tree canopy to provide shading, or sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDs) to help alleviate flood pressures) or changes to our systems or behaviours (ensuring contingency plans and resilient supply chains).
Adaptation actions may be categorised as actions which:
• Build adaptive capacity – Actions which develop your organisational ability to effectively respond to climate change. This may be through enabling supportive governance for adaptation, producing guidance, creating or collating relevant information and research, raising awareness about the need to adapt or supporting social structures for adaptation such as working in partnership. • Deliver adaptation actions – Actions that reduce impacts or take advantage of opportunities associated with climate change. Actions may reduce or avoid exposure to climate risk, such as building flood defences, or exploit opportunities through changing practices to take advantage of climatic changes.
Within these categories, adaptation actions may be further identified as:
• No-regrets options : Actions which are beneficial regardless of climate change because they deliver wider socio-economic benefits in all situations. • Low-regret options : Actions which are relatively low cost and potentially high benefit, for example restricting new developments in flood plain. • Win-win options : Actions which help minimise climate impacts or benefit from potential opportunities from a changing climate whilst also having wider social, economic and/or environmental benefits. This may include for example improving the cooling capacity of buildings through increased shading which is less energy intensive than alternatives and may contribute to mitigation targets. Remember: This resource has been produced by Sniffer and Sustainability West Midlands (SWM) as a result of a pilot project in partnership with NHSE North West, NHSE North East & Yorkshire, and NHS Greater Manchester, with support from a dedicated Task & Finish Group of NHS colleagues. Other activities in this project (which can all be found on the weADAPT website under the tag #NHSadapts) resulted in the following outputs:
• An Adaptation Plan Template for NHS Trusts • Guidance on including adaptation into your Green Plan • Becoming Climate Resilient training • Climate Adaptation for NHS Senior Leaders training
Authors: Sustainability West Midlands; Sniffer Partners: NHSE North East & Yorkshire, NHSE North West, NHS Greater Manchester
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