Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward the publication of the fourth National Adaptation Programme from 2028.

The Government recognises the urgency of strengthening the UK’s resilience to the impacts of climate change and is acting now to increase climate resilience including on infrastructure and key services like schools and hospitals. We are developing the fourth National Adaptation Programme (NAP4) for publication in 2028, following publication of the statutory fourth Climate Change Risk Assessment in 2027.

We have committed to setting stronger, measurable adaptation objectives through NAP4. The Government is retaining the 2028 publication date to ensure there is sufficient time to develop these objectives, and the associated delivery plans, effectively.