Climate Impacts Group Workshop Minutes, 17th January 2022

Attendees

Mark Rice (Chair) – Environment Agency 

Emily Reed – Devon Climate Emergency 

Emily Widdecombe – Devon Climate Emergency 

Elliot Batty – D&CIoS Local Resilience Forum 

Stephen Swaby – Isles of Scilly Council 

Alex Rainbow – Cornwall Council 

Tom Dauben – Environment Agency 

Penny Tranter – Met Office 

Louise Sawyer – Devon and Cornwall Police 

Douglas Lisle – NHS England 

Pete Chamberlain – Devon County Council 

Apologies

Mike Waller – Devon County Council 

Alan Jeffrey – Cornwall Council 

Doug Eltham – Devon County Council 

Neil Hamlyn – D&CIoS Local Resilience Forum  

Laurence Couldrick – West Country Rivers Trust 

Hannah Fox – Cornwall Council 

Victoria Hatfield – Exeter City Council 

Ruth Rockley – Devon County Council 

James Cooper – Environment Agency 

Harriet Googe – Environment Agency 

Paul Minshull - Cornwall Council 

1. Minutes of the previous meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting were AGREED as a true record of the discussion.  

2. The Groups’ Terms of Reference

The group’s Terms of Reference were presented and discussed. The group put forward a number of amendments to the Terms which were summarised by Mark Rice as: 

• Change ‘communities’ to better reflect different segments of society  
• Change ‘warmer world’ to better capture changes in climate, rather than simply warming  
• Make changes which acknowledge the nuance between climate adaptation and resilience  

Action: the DCE secretariat to update the Climate Impacts Group Terms of Reference and circulate to the group for approval.  

3. Overview of the work and progress of the group to date

Emily Reed presented the group’s progress to date, including an overview of the work that remains to be completed according to the workplan.   

ACTION: Emily to send copy of presentation slides to members of the group  

4. Defining the audience of the Adaptation Plan 

The group worked together on a Miro board to map out and document the audiences for the Adaptation Plan. 

The group suggested ranking audiences by risk, or via a matrix of risk, ease of ability to communicate the message to that group, and levels of responsibility for each risk that the audience segment has.  

The group also suggested breaking the audiences down into two groups: 1) audience for information only, and 2) audience directly responsible for adaptation actions and decisions.  

The group discovered that the DCIoS Adaptation Plan might be better placed as a document designed to facilitate the development of multiple local Adaptation Plans, rather than functioning as an ‘ultimate’ adaptation plan for the region.   

ACTION: Refresh the aims and objectives of the Adaptation Plan after the session.  

5. How audiences would use the adaptation plan 

Continuing to use a Miro board the group discussed what the needs were of users of the Adaptation Plan. A range of needs were recorded on the board. 

6. The scope of the adaptation plan  

To better define the scope of the Adaptation Plan the group considered the three following questions in turn: 

• What would the plan need to do to facilitate stakeholder engagement? 
• How could the plan set the right conditions for stakeholders to take action on adaptation? 
• What mechanisms are there to bridge between policy and strategy and taking action to adapt? 

The conversation was recorded on the Miro board.  

However, in light of the discussion so far the group identified the following alterations to the scope of the Adaptation Plan:  

1. The plan is more about helping others to develop their own adaptation plans.  

2. The plan must assign urgency categories to the actions that have been identified.  

3. Incorporating specific actions into the adaptation plan could help to promote consistency in uptake, but these actions would not be exhaustive. In other words, develop options for communities, but do not limit communities to those options.  

4. Promote no-regrets adaptation actions.  

5. Identify ‘tipping points’ for various risks in the plan to facilitate decision-making.  

6. Place-based priorities for vulnerable communities.  

7. Consider how often we will revisit/re-scope the Adaptation Plan: identify a time horizon for the plan.  

8. Differentiate the plan across four levels: strategic level actions (regional/local government); organisational level actions (each organisation to develop a plan to address key priorities); community-level approaches (e.g parish councils/other community groups to support adaptation within local communities); and finally, individual- or family-level action.  

7. Metrics of Success

The group was asked to identify the metrics of success for the DCIoS Adaptation Plan.   

The conversation was recorded on the Miro board.  

8. Revising the brief for the Adaptation Plan 

The group was asked to discuss whether the brief for the contractor should be updated in light of this workshop.  

The group suggested that the brief should:  

1. Note the change in goal: facilitating others adaptation plans instead of being the adaptation plan for DCIoS.  

2. Recognise the capabilities and limitations of the Adaptation Plan, and acknowledge that it is designed to facilitate the creation of multiple, local adaptation plans throughout the region.  

The group raised the question of the plan’s governance, asking how the plan will be reviewed as it unfolds.   

The group further raised the question of how metrics will be incorporated into the plan, suggesting that individual communities might develop their own metrics.The group put forward the suggestion of ultimately creating a ‘dashboard’ to keep track of communities’ parallel efforts in order to encourage consistency.  

9. Stages of Developing the Adaptation Plan   

The group was asked to revisit the work plan to assess whether it was still fit for purpose in light of todays’ workshop.  

The group broadly agreed that the work plan is still fit for purpose, but requires a number of additions. These additions are:  

1. Adding finer-scale support  

2. Add a section detailing who is responsible for governing the delivery of the plan  

3. Identify a time-horizon for the plan upon which it can be reviewed and updated if necessary  

ACTION: Update the brief to incorporate the results of the workshop and share with the Climate Impacts Group for comment  

ACTION: Review the new draft of the brief during February’s Climate Impacts Group meeting.  

ACTION: Provide consultants with as much background information as possible to bring them up to speed efficiently