‘We need a revolution in how we prevent floods’
Calls for action amid ‘climate crisis’ Experts warn of risks for Yorkshire Problem areas ‘require pots of cash’
THE Government is not taking enough consideration of climate change when planning its response to flooding, the Shadow Environment Secretary has warned.
Luke Pollard said that since Parliament declared a climate emergency last year, little had changed in the Government’s approach to flood planning.
But it comes at a time when experts predict the climate crisis could cause between 20 and 40 per cent more flooding events in Yorkshire if nothing is done.
“We need a revolution in how we prevent flooding,” Mr Pollard said.
His comments came as Yorkshire was hit twice in the space of a week by devastating floods, last week brought on by Storm Ciara and now Storm Dennis.
Mr Pollard added: “The climate crisis means we need to fundamentally review how we do things.
“Flood systems are based on work done before Parliament declared a climate crisis. What are we doing differently?”
A large-scale study last year found floods were becoming more severe in parts of northern Britain due to climate change, and the UK has seen a pattern of severe flooding over the past 10 years which the Environment Agency says is linked to an increase in extreme weather events.
Simon Waller, the director at JBA Risk Management, said flood defences may need updating in light of this.
His company, based in West Yorkshire, has worked with governments across the world to assess flood risk and its modelling shows that by 2040, if nothing is done, the number of flooding events in Yorkshire will rise by between 20 and 40 per cent.
“Critically, people like the Environment Agency are very much aware of this and are using the same models in using these to understand future flood risk and are designing flood defences around that,” Mr Waller said.
“But clearly there are many flood defences out there that may need updating.”
He said the conversation over how to deal with climate change had been continuing for “several years”, but the Government needed to urgently overhaul its contingency plans.
The Government uses computer models to understand the likelihood of flooding, with new technology such as drones also deployed.
The modelling is put under constant review, especially so after flooding has hit, and looks as far ahead as the year 2100.
The warning from Mr Pollard comes after MPs called for dedicated pots of money for areas such as Calderdale and Doncaster which repeatedly flood during extreme weather.
Writing to the Environment Secretary, Holly Lynch, Labour MP for Halifax, said: “[Calderdale] Council has significant ongoing costs to find every year in order to mitigate flood risk which are not currently recognised through central government funding.”
Mr Pollard added: “Some Government funding is based on deprivation. There should be a recognition of flood risk.”
He said the Environment Agency “came out last year and said they need £1bn a year” for traditional flood defences.
“The Government is nowhere near spending that much on flood prevention. A scheme here and a scheme there will add up but the climate crisis means we will have more severe flooding. That means we need a different approach,” Mr Pollard added.
A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said: “Since 2015, the Government has committed to invest £74m in the Calder Valley to protect the area from floods as we work hard to deliver the best possible scheme as quickly as possible to protect homes, businesses and jobs.”
In Yorkshire overall, the spokesman said £2.6bn was being invested to protect from flooding, and added this equated to more than 1,000 flood defence schemes.