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Adapting to climate change in Portsmouth

Portsmouth needs to ensure that it is climate change ready for the unavoidable changes that are already built in to our weather system. Our infrastructure needs to ensure that we can maximise the opportunities from climate change and minimise the costs.

We will aim for the city to have fewer problems with flooding and to have clear contingency plans for extreme weather events. Our buildings and the people in them will need to be able to cope with higher temperatures and intense periods of rain. Water will need to be used much more efficiently and plants that are suitable for hotter, dryer climates will need to become a regular in our local environment.

Proposed actions

• Leadership
  the lead partners in Portsmouth will lead the way and put in relevant adaptation measures
• Planning policies
  Through the local Development Framework Core Strategy we will ensure that new developments take account of future climatic changes
• Emergency planning
  A full risk assessment will be carried out for Portsmouth and emergency plans will be made for the changes in our climate, where possible we will manage and reduce flood risk in a sustainable way and information will be provided for households on how to manage flood risk in their property
• Coastal strategy
  As a coastal city it is vital that we tackle this issue head on, we are reducing the tidal flood risk to the city through our Portsea Island Coastal Strategy Study and providing input into the Environment Agency’s Portchester to Emsworth Coastal Defence Strategy.

Actions that you personally can take

• Ensure you are aware of the risks to your home
• Get advice from us on how to avoid the worst effects of flooding in your home