About Climate Resilient UK
Understand risks. Build more resilience.
Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, more severe and less predictable. Across the UK, floods, heatwaves, storms and other disruptions are affecting lives, livelihoods and communities in ways that many of us have never had to consider before.
Yet, as a society, we remain remarkably underprepared.
In his book The Response, David Shukman brings together compelling research and first-hand accounts of people experiencing extreme climatic events. Their stories are both harrowing and inspiring. But what struck us most was how little preparation had been done, at almost every level of society, from national and local government to communities and individual households.
Perhaps, for too long, we’ve assumed that these things happen somewhere else, to other people. Increasingly, we’re discovering that they happen here, too.
Climate Resilient UK exists to help change that.
Our starting point was a deceptively simple question, raised at a gathering of people interested in emergency preparedness in Exeter:
“How do I know what risks I should actually be preparing for?”
Nobody in the room could say with confidence which risks were most relevant to Exeter or Devon. Yet much of that information already existed. It was simply scattered across government reports, risk registers, scientific research and other sources, rarely presented in ways that ordinary people could easily find, understand or act upon.
And the same is true of the solutions. There is a growing body of evidence about what households and communities can do to reduce their exposure, prepare for emergencies and recover more effectively. But this knowledge, too, is fragmented, difficult to navigate and often disconnected from the places and people who could benefit most.
We believe that knowing what you’re facing is the first step towards being better prepared.
Climate Resilient UK is an initiative to bring together the best available data, evidence and practical knowledge about the risks we face, and put it in the hands of the people who need it.
We want to make it easier for anyone, wherever they live in the UK, to understand the risks specific to their area, explore the actions they can take to protect their homes and loved ones, and connect with others working to make their communities more resilient.
We’re interested not just in what individuals can do, but in what becomes possible when neighbours, communities, local organisations and public authorities work together.
We don’t claim to have all the answers. Many approaches to building resilience are still being tested, and the evidence is constantly evolving. Our ambition is to make the best of that knowledge accessible, actionable and useful, and to help people learn from one another as we go.
Because resilience isn’t just about preparing for the worst. It’s about giving ourselves and our communities the knowledge, confidence and connections to face an uncertain future together.
Climate Resilient UK. Resilient, together.
