22 June 2015
Representatives from the States, environmental groups, the private sector and utilities have met to discuss how Jersey can prepare for climate change.
It’s the second meeting of a longer term initiative to consider the impact of more extreme weather in the future and what Jersey needs to do to prepare, led by the Department of the Environment.
At yesterday's meeting, delegates heard recommendations for action in a report commissioned by the Department of the Environment from the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) and the University of Manchester.
Impact of climate change
The report gives an overview of how prepared Jersey is for climate change. It also sets out the priorities for the Island to prepare a plan to cope with the effect of climate change, such as storms, higher temperatures and more heavy rainfall.
Last year the States agreed to reduce Jersey’s carbon emissions through an energy plan, in line with its commitment to the Kyoto protocol. This is an international agreement imposing limits on emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that scientists think are contributing to extreme weather events through rising world temperatures. The future proofing work looks at how Jersey can adapt to the inevitable impact of climate change.
Jersey is getting warmer
Jersey Met released figures earlier this year based on a study of temperatures over the past 120 years which indicated Jersey is getting warmer. The figures showed a fall in the number of record low temperatures and a steady increase in the number of highest maximum temperatures.
The Minister for Planning and Environment, Deputy Steve Luce said ‘Jersey faces a growing challenge from the impact of climate change, and in particular, extreme weather events.
Although we’ve made good progress, there’s more work to be done in terms of both understanding what we need to do and then finding ways of integrating preparation for extreme weather into our longer term planning, in the next Island Plan, in plans for the future of St Helier, housing and sea defences, food and energy security, and health policy to name but a few.
‘The private sector has already recognised this and we’ll be working closely with Island businesses and all my fellow ministers on making Jersey a resilient Island to secure business confidence and the wider well-being of our community.’
Download Future-proofing Jersey: Building Resilience for the 21st Century (1.35KB)
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