EA to give environmental analysis advice on adapting to climate change

The Environment Agency (EA) will give the government advice on how to change air monitoring and water quality methods in order to adapt to climate change for the UK.

Environment secretary Caroline Spelman has announced that the EA will take on the new role to assist the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in learning how to change according to altering weather conditions.

Extra funding of £2 million a year will be given to the EA so that it can deliver recommendations to businesses and organisations on how they can handle hotter summers, warmer winters and an increase in floods.

Ms Spelman said it is "vital" to be prepared for climate change.

"We need to increase the scope of adaptation around the country and encourage action at a faster rate," she stated.

Chairman of the EA Chris Smith added that changes to nature are already starting to occur, highlighting the importance for the group to offer the environmental analysis advice as soon as possible.

These suggestions could assist businesses in learning how to adapt to being greener and earlier this month Defra revealed that British firms could collectively save £23 billion a year by improving their energy-efficiency measures and reducing the amount of waste they produce.

Posted by Claire Manning