Reflections on the UK's first Climate Change Risk Assessment | WEBINAR

Hosted by the CIWEM South Western branch

Event description

The UK's Climate Change Act 2008 was the world’s first legally binding framework aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It established a long-term target to achieve net zero emissions for the UK by 2050 and created a robust, enduring structure for climate action. Key provisions include the setting of five-year carbon budgets, the establishment of an independent advisory body - the Climate Change Committee (CCC) - and a statutory requirement to conduct climate change risk assessments every five years to inform national adaptation planning. The Act has had a profound global influence, inspiring similar legislation in numerous other countries.

The first Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA1) mandated by the Act was carried out between 2009 and 2012 by HR Wallingford, a leading environmental consultancy. The project involved collaboration with approximately eighty sub-consultants, all recognised experts across twelve sectors. Together, they identified over six hundred climate-related risks to the UK, along with several potential opportunities.

Dr Dominic Hames was one of the principal authors of the CCRA1 report, which was formally presented to Parliament in January 2012. He delivered briefings on the methodology and preliminary findings to all three UK devolved administrations and facilitated stakeholder engagement sessions across the country. Due to his contributions—particularly in assessing the health impacts of climate change—he unexpectedly became regarded as an expert in that domain, a reputation “spuriously” acquired and difficult to shed.

In his presentation, Dominic outlines the process of identifying climate risks to the UK in CCRA1, detailing the analytical approach, methodological constraints, and key challenges encountered. He shares examples of the most significant risks that were identified, as well as some of the opportunities—emphasising that climate change is not solely negative in its impacts. He concludes with a series of anecdotes from the study: some humorous, some unusual, and a few that are mildly irreverent.

Part of the CIWEM Climate Emergency Adaption and Resilience series.

Who should attend this webinar

• Anyone working in the sphere of risk, opportunities, and adaption to Climate Change.
• Those that would be interested in finding out more about the political and policy process of the UK Climate Act.

Why should you attend this webinar

• Of interest to all those interested in the process, politics, and procedure of producing an extremely high-profile politically charged project, the first of its kind ever produced.
• Gain CPD while learning about this important piece of legislation.
• Opportunities to network with like-minded professionals in the sector.

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About the speaker

Dr Dominic Hames

Dr Dominic Hames is one of the principal authors of the first Change Risk Assessment whilst an employee of HR Wallingford and is currently a senior lecturer in civil engineering at The University of the West of England. He has over 35 years of experience in flood and coastal defence related work both within the consultant and academic sector.

Prior to joining the University, Dominic worked for HR Wallingford where he worked on a number of high-profile projects. These included: being part of the teams working on the State of the Nation Project and the National Flood Risk Assessment for England and Wales, as well authoring some of the reports in the UK’s first Climate Change Risk Assessment and leading the development of the protype overtopping tool used in the State of the Nation flood risk assessment.

In addition, Dominic led the development of the new Foundation, BSc and MSc degree programmes in Flood and Coastal Engineering at Brunel University that were run in conjunction with staff from HR Wallingford, as well as carrying out risk assessments and option appraisals for major infrastructure projects, such as Hinkley Point C Nuclear Power Station and the new seawall at Dawlish.

Dominic is a reviewer on several journals, and prior to joining UWE, was a visiting lecturer in flood risk management at the University of Brunel, the University of East London, and IHE Delft. Apart from winning the Bill Curtin Medal for Research and Innovation in 2018, Dominic also won the Halcrow Prize for the best paper in the ICE Maritime journal in 2020 and 2021.

He also publishes extensively in a range of subjects across several different publications. His first book, a political biography, was published in November 2023. He is currently authoring a book commissioned by the Institution of Civil Engineers on coastal flooding and climate change.

Booking and joining information

This event is open to members and non-members of CIWEM. The webinar is hosted on the Zoom platform and will be recorded.

Please register your place by clicking on the registration button. Non-members who have not registered for the CIWEM system can create an account on the booking page in order to reserve their place. This should not take more than two minutes.

If you have any questions about your booking or would like to cancel your attendance, please contact branches@ciwem.org.

Please note that registrations will close at 09:00 on the day of the event. If you have not registered before that time, unfortunately we cannot add you to the event.

If you have any queries about this talk, please contact Lucy George at Lucy.George@wessexwater.co.uk.