Delivering Climate Adaptation and Resilience: The Role of Measurement

On the 23^rd and 24^th of February 2022, NPL hosted an online workshop to investigate climate adaptation and resilience needs in the UK, focusing on the role of metrology (the science of measurement). The event saw over 180 attendees from across the adaptation and resilience landscape come together to discuss priority measurement needs and challenges in support of climate action.

On the first day, the session had an underpinning policy focus and set the scene of the UK policy adaptation landscape. Key topics discussed included specific UK adaptation and resilience needs, climate risks, measurement needs that support adaptation policy, and future measurement challenges requiring attention. On the second day, the session centred around potential solutions, with attendees discussing the role of remote sensing and space-based solutions for adaptation and resilience action and prioritising measurement needs relating to geospatial solutions. Following the plenary sessions across both days during which an array of external stakeholders presented, breakout room discussions were held to identify key themes through open dialogue with attendees and to generate stakeholder validated measurement needs and challenges.

The first workshop session held on 23^rd February began with Richard Barker (Head of Environment, NPL) welcoming attendees and providing background on NPL’s role as the UK’s National Metrology Institute, outlining the significance of measurement and some of NPL’s capability relevant to climate adaptation and resilience. Alex Mindell (Climate Adaptation and Resilience Researcher, NPL) then defined some of the non-technical challenges that face the theme, such as adaptation being local and context specific and that adaptation often has a lag and occurs over long time scales, as well as introducing the scope and key aims of the workshop.

The first external speaker, Brendan Freeman (Head of Adaptation Indicators, Climate Change Committee), discussed the key role that indicators and metrics possess in supporting adaptation and resilience action and highlighted data sets that should be prioritised to support measurement of changes in climate risk. Charles Ffoulkes (Associate Director, ADAS/ Defra) followed, outlining the importance of establishing robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks for climate adaptation and resilience policy. Charles also expanded upon the data challenges that require addressing and measurement priorities for policy including national-scale soil monitoring, transport asset condition monitoring and a greater use of sensors and localised weather stations. To complete the first workshop session, Professor Suraje Dessai (Chair in Climate Change Adaptation, University of Leeds), elaborated upon the importance of assessing the quality of regional climate information, and the need for interdisciplinary research and innovation on climate risk, adaptation and services, whilst also outlining for attendees the scope of the UK’s £18.7m Climate Resilience Programme.

The second workshop session on 24^th February began with Rob Scott (Co-Director, Centre for Earth Observation Instrumentation), who outlined current and future Earth Observation missions with capability relevant to address the challenges posed by climate adaptation and resilience. Donna Lyndsay (Innovation Lead, Ordnance Survey) followed, speaking about the utilisation of earth observation to complement ground-based technologies, aiding data-driven strategic decision making. Donna illustrated this through project examples such as peatland monitoring from space and identifying populations at risk due to greater heat vulnerability.  Fai Fung (Science Manager, Met Office) presented on current climate and meteorological observations for future climate risks and new requirements for earth system modelling, exemplifying the thought leadership of the UK via the Met Office in this space. Emma Woolliams (Chair of the European Metrology Network for Climate and Ocean, Observation and Principal Research Scientist for Earth Observation, NPL), expanded upon how NPL are aiding the UK in producing trusted climate intelligence from space and illustrated the need for quality along the entire climate science value chain.

Lastly, Briony Turner (Climate Services Development Manager, Space4Climate, NCEO) and John Remedios (Director of the National Centre for Earth Observation) collaboratively presented a summary of the measurement needs and challenges identified over the two days and emphasised the intricacies of space-enabled climate action through remote observation. They gave examples of current space-enabled climate action such as, CRISP: Climate Risk Index from Space Platforms which utilises reanalysis data, satellite data and climate projections to help the insurance sector provide vital financial products to those at risk from droughts and wildfires. They also highlighted the need for synergies between adaptation, resilience, and net zero action using air quality and insulation as a prime example as well as stressing the leading role that the UK plays in this area.

Common themes identified in break out discussions over both days of the event included: the need for long-term, stable climate measurement networks, prioritising particular measurements due to the trade-off between quantity and quality of available data, and the importance of thresholds for understanding at what point action is required. Greater measurement quality gives us the ability to accelerate learning, understand and in some instances lower uncertainty to promote action and this was a theme that came out as essential to enabling decision making, accurately determining risk and ensuring sufficient monitoring and evaluation of decisions.

A primary goal of this workshop was to validate our desk-based research with external stakeholders, to feed into a report on the same topic due for publication in Spring 2022. This report - ‘Delivering Climate Adaptation and Resilience’ - will be the first in a new series of environmentally focused – ‘Measurement for our Planet’ - reports which will complement NPL’s well-established Energy Transition report series. The purpose of this report is to highlight areas that require further investigation and investment, inform calls for collaborative research activities, as well as act as a guide for formulation of NPL’s future programmes of work to meet these needs. It is important to note that this report will highlight areas that NPL have expertise in but also those which would be best addressed by other organisations capabilities and is therefore intended as a mapping exercise across the entire adaptation and resilience landscape for all stakeholders’ benefit. Once published, the report will be made available on the NPL website.