Floods shouldn't be 'political football', argues IEMA

10th February 2014


Related Topics

Related tags

  • Local government ,
  • Central government ,
  • Environment agencies ,
  • Mitigation ,
  • Adaptation

Author

Richard Cattan

IEMA has called for cross-party consensus on flood protection following Eric Pickles' criticism of the Environment Agency

Using the floods that are affecting many parts of the UK as a “political football” is unhelpful and should be stopped, according to the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment.

Today (10 February 2014), Lord Chris Smith, chair of the Environment Agency, defended the regulator’s actions in reacting to the floods arguing that it was bound by Treasury rules on spending. His comments came after the communities secretary told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show that he “apologised unreservedly” for following advice from the agency.

“We made a mistake, there’s no doubt about that. We perhaps relied too much on the Environment Agency’s advice… I’m really sorry we took the advice of what we thought we were dealing with experts,” said Pickles.

Smith reacted by saying his staff knew “100 times more about flood risk management than any politician ever has”.

IEMA is now calling on politicians to work together to ensure the UK is able to cope with the impacts of climate change in the future.

“Cross-party consensus and climate leadership is required to determine the priorities and level of funding needed to provide communities with the protection they need,” states a formal comment from the Institute.

“Treating the environment as a political football is unhelpful – it’s far too important an issue to be kicked around. Building resilience to the challenges of climate change requires government, businesses and society to work together to mitigate impacts and invest in protection.”

With climate projections predicting a shift towards wetter winters and more extreme weather events, and with increasing demand for infrastructure and housing as the population in the UK expands, increasing flood risks mean that government, regulators, business and environment professionals must work together to secure the best outcomes for the country in the long term, argues IEMA.

Subscribe

Subscribe to IEMA's newsletters to receive timely articles, expert opinions, event announcements, and much more, directly in your inbox.


Transform articles

Facing the climate emergency challenge in local government

It’s well recognised that the public sector has the opportunity to work towards a national net-zero landscape that goes well beyond improving on its own performance; it can also influence through procurement and can direct through policy.

19th March 2024

Read more

The UK government’s carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) strategy is based on optimistic techno-economic assumptions that are now outdated, Carbon Tracker has warned.

13th March 2024

Read more

The UK’s new biodiversity net gain (BNG) requirements could create 15,000 hectares of woodlands, heath, grasslands, and wetlands and absorb 650,000 tonnes of carbon each year.

13th March 2024

Read more

The UK government’s latest Public Attitudes Tracker has found broad support for efforts to tackle climate change, although there are significant concerns that bills will rise.

13th March 2024

Read more

Multinational corporations are undermining their net-zero commitments with excessive air travel and no plans to reduce ‘the low hanging fruit’ of carbon footprints, a study by Transport & Environment has found.

13th March 2024

Read more

The UK government’s climate adaptation plans are ‘inadequate’ and falling ‘far short’ of what is required, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) has warned today.

13th March 2024

Read more

Large businesses across the world are avoiding climate action due to fear they will be called out for getting their work wrong, according to a new Carbon Trust report.

29th February 2024

Read more

A thought-provoking discussion on how storytelling can change the world took place in Central London last night, alongside an exclusive sneak preview of an upcoming IEMA film series.

29th February 2024

Read more

Media enquires

Looking for an expert to speak at an event or comment on an item in the news?

Find an expert

IEMA Cookie Notice

Clicking the ‘Accept all’ button means you are accepting analytics and third-party cookies. Our website uses necessary cookies which are required in order to make our website work. In addition to these, we use analytics and third-party cookies to optimise site functionality and give you the best possible experience. To control which cookies are set, click ‘Settings’. To learn more about cookies, how we use them on our website and how to change your cookie settings please view our cookie policy.

Manage cookie settings

Our use of cookies

You can learn more detailed information in our cookie policy.

Some cookies are essential, but non-essential cookies help us to improve the experience on our site by providing insights into how the site is being used. To maintain privacy management, this relies on cookie identifiers. Resetting or deleting your browser cookies will reset these preferences.

Essential cookies

These are cookies that are required for the operation of our website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our website.

Analytics cookies

These cookies allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors to our website and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works.

Advertising cookies

These cookies allow us to tailor advertising to you based on your interests. If you do not accept these cookies, you will still see adverts, but these will be more generic.

Save and close