LESS than 1% of staff in a key government department are working on climate adaptation, it has emerged.
The Guardian has reported just 20 of 6613 staff (0.3%) within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) are focusing on the issue despite almost three-quarters of England having been declared in drought earlier this week.
The Government has been warned by the Climate Change Committee that it is lagging behind on adapting to a new climate as a result of global heating.
The figures emerged following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.
The Met Office said the UK is on course for its hottest summer on record, as parts of the country face their fifth heatwave this summer.
Guy Shrubsole, environmental writer and campaigner who obtained the data, told the paper: “England is desperately unprepared for the impacts of the climate crisis, and these shocking figures show how few officials are working on the problem at the top of government."
Prime Minister Andy Burnham was due to chair a meeting of the UK Government’s emergency Cobra committee on Wednesday in response to extreme heat after repeated calls from the likes of Green Party leader Zack Polanski.
Caroline Lucas, former Green Party leader, posted on BlueSky: "What a damning reflection of the pitifully low priority currently given to climate adaptation, yet building local and national resilience to increasingly damaging impacts is vital to keeping people safe [and] building support for more ambitious emission cuts."
Friends of the Earth’s (FoE) head of policy, Mike Childs said: “The UK is in the grip of a growing climate crisis. Across the UK communities are under attack from relentless heatwaves, droughts and wildfires, putting lives, homes, farmers and nature at risk.
"Andy Burnham must end his silence on the climate emergency and pledge to make it a top priority by strengthening plans to protect communities from increasingly frequent and extreme weather – especially those most at risk.
"The Government must do more to cut the pollution driving climate change by accelerating the shift to clean energy and ruling out new oil and gas developments like Rosebank and Jackdaw, and a third runway at Heathrow.”
Rare amber “extreme heat” warnings have been issued by the forecaster for London and parts of the South East, East Midlands, East of England, West Midlands and South Yorkshire from 9am to midnight on Thursday.
No such warnings are in place in Scotland, although the country has still felt the impact of the rising temperatures, with a wildfire raging in the Cairngorms for a number of weeks.
The National previously told how record-breaking heatwaves in May and June led to the deaths of more than 2800 people in England and Wales, with both nations also enduring their driest July since records began in 1836.
The UK Government's Environment Agency said 71.3% of England is now experiencing “flash drought”, as a dry start to August followed the country’s driest July on record.
A Defra spokesperson said: “Climate adaption underlines work throughout the whole department – from nature recovery to flooding response to sustainable farming on top of a direct and dedicated team. It is a key priority for this government.
“We are already strengthening our approach to climate adaptation through our work with the National Drought Group, building nine new reservoirs across the country and investing at least £10.5 billion by March 2036 to construct new flood and coastal erosion schemes, as extreme weather becomes more frequent.”
