Edinburgh Adapts kicks off
Engaging with stakeholders will be at the heart of the Edinburgh Adapts project. At a kick-off meeting last week it was decided to hold an open meeting in August to discuss the challenges facing the city and to create a vision of a climate ready Edinburgh. Details about the meeting will be available later in July.
Adaptation Scotland is working with the Edinburgh Sustainable Development Partnership on the project.
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New ALE members participate in first workshop
 Last week Adaptation Scotland hosted the first workshop for the new Adaptation Learning Exchange Introductory Programme. Representatives from six organisations travelled to Glasgow to discuss the risks they are facing, their adaptation aims for the year, and to understand how Adaptation Scotland can support them with their adaptation initiatives.
ALE Network members from Stirling Council also presented on their adaptation progress since joining the programme, providing insight on embedding climate change adaptation on their corporate risk register and overcoming barriers.
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Scottish Government report highlights adaptation action across the country
 The Scottish Government has published its first annual progress report on the Scottish Climate Change Adaptation Programme, praising the work of Adaptation Scotland and our partners.
The report, Climate Ready Scotland, contains a wealth of case studies showing adaptation in action across the country and lays out the plans for further work in the next twelve months. These include an independent review of progress, implementation of mandatory climate reporting for Public Bodies, the establishment of a National Centre for Resilience, and contributing to the next UK Climate Change Risk Assessment.
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Consultation opens for new marine development plan for northern Scotland
 The Government has published a new draft plan for the marine environment of northern Scotland. The pilot Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters Marine Spatial Plan sets out an integrated planning policy framework for the area, noting the need to make sure adaptation is considered in future development.
The plan highlights the risk posed by climate change to heritage assets in Orkney and that of changing sea conditions in the Firth, a key area for renewable energy development. The consultation on the draft plan will close on 6 September 2015.
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New Heatwave plan updates warning system
 Public Health England has published this year’s ‘Heatwave Plan for England’. The Plan is underpinned by the Met Office supported ‘Heat-Health Watch System’, which gives prior warning of likely heatwaves, allowing appropriate action to be taken to warn the public and safeguard vulnerable people.
Significant heatwaves are estimated to have caused 2,000 excess deaths in England in 2003, 680 in 2006 and 300 in 2009, with climate projections indicating the temperatures experienced at these times will become the norm in the country by 2040.
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New report makes the business case for adapting the UK's buildings
 Innovate UK’s final report in the Design for Future Climate series focuses on the opportunities and challenges in adapting the UK’s buildings to climate change.
Aimed at designers, policy-makers and the construction industry, the report calls for adaptation to be a priority in the design phase and that regulations need updating to reflect future climate realities.
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Climate Hope City: a stroll through the future with Minecraft
 Vertical farms, green-roofs and kinetic pavements are just some of the sights to see in Climate Hope City.
Built using world-building software Minecraft, and created in conjunction with the Guardian, the online model incorporates current adaptation and mitigation measures into a vision of a climate ready city users can interact with and explore.
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Global financial system failing adaptation, says UN
 The world’s financial system must undergo comprehensive change if it is to meet the challenges of climate change, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) states in a new report.
The report highlights that many countries are already paying the price of a system ill-suited to current and future climate impacts. Climate risks are underestimated and adaptation undervalued, creating ‘misaligned incentives’ and a market place ‘exacerbated by short-termism’.
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Met office and World Bank help developing nations weather climate impacts.
 The Met Office and the World Bank Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work together to help developing nations meet climate challenges.
Preparing for climate risks requires reliable meteorological services. However, many of the most vulnerable countries struggle to access such services. This new partnership will address these gaps in adaptive capacity, improving resilience in these less developed regions.
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