The United Kingdom's National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) said in a report published on Thursday that the country's vital infrastructure, including its energy and water networks, communications, transport and other utilities, might come under threat from a climate breakdown, among other challenges that "will not always be possible to foresee."
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th May, 2020) The United Kingdom's National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) said in a report published on Thursday that the country's vital infrastructure, including its energy and water networks, communications, transport and other utilities, might come under threat from a climate breakdown, among other challenges that "will not always be possible to foresee."
The study, dubbed "Anticipate, React, Recover: Resilient infrastructure systems," was conducted before the coronavirus outbreak in the UK, which in the long run will also harm the country's infrastructure, the authority said.
"The Commission warns that the UK's generally robust historic resilience may be challenged in future by a range of factors that will not always be possible to foresee, alongside better understood challenges like climate change," the NIC said in a statement summarizing its findings.
The report focuses on the United Kingdom's energy, water, digital, road and rail infrastructure, citing examples of the 2019 power outage and flooding experiences over recent years.
The NIC urged the government to take action to protect the country against flooding, heatwaves and drought by setting out full resilience standards every five years.
"To prepare better, government should set clear resilience standards for infrastructure operators, and introduce stress tests overseen by regulators similar to those employed in the financial sector," the statement read.
At the same time, reviving the UK's infrastructure could create new job opportunities as the government seeks to recover the economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The climate emergency means shocks to the economy from record weather events are following each other with increasing speed. Creating more resilient infrastructure, and building back better after a climate-induced shock, doesn't just reduce risks, it's an economic opportunity too," Emma Howard Boyd, the UK commissioner to the Global Commission on Adaptation, was quoted as saying in the statement.
The UK has been on track toward a greener economy for years amid multiple controversies surrounding its policies to mitigate the effects of climate change.
In May 2019, the UK parliament declared a "climate emergency," following a series of protests by environmental activists, while not yet committing legally to any concrete measures. Nearly two months later, parliament passed a law that stipulated a commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the country to net-zero by 2050, making the UK the first major economy to legislate lowering its contribution to global warming.
