Sarah Hendel-Blackford05.10.12

Legal Obligations on Adaptation:The energy sector as critical infrastructure

Parliamentary hearing

Nordic Folkecenter, Hurup Thy,Denmark

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The Ecofys Expertise

Ecofys ExpertiseEcofys Expertise

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Legal Obligations on adaptation

• Adaptation: an emerging obligation

• Adaptation: legal liabilities?

•UK: The Adaptation Reporting Power

• EU: Adaptation Strategy 2013

• Challenges, solutions

•Questions for discussion

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Adaptation: an emerging obligation

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Legal sector and adaptation

‘We are likely to see the use of litigation as a means to recover costs … courts will examine claims and may decide that it was reasonable, at the

time the decision was made or advice given, to have foreseen the impacts of climate change, based on the information available in the public

domain.’ (UKCIP 2006)

‘Climate change litigation alongside extreme weather events

are likely to become more prevalent in the coming years.

Solicitors need to be prepared to take the risks of climate change

into consideration when advising clients.

Those who do so quickly will be well placed to take advantage of the opportunities .'

Vanessa Havard-Williams, Chair of the LSA's Policy Working Group

 

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UK Adaptation Reporting Power: critical infrastructure (1)

UK Climate Change Act 2008 : new obligation on critical infrastructure to prepare reports on how they assess and act on the risks and opportunities from a changing climate.

Reports to cover:

• (a) an assessment of the current and predicted impact of climate change in relation to the

reporting authority’s functions;

• (b) a statement of the reporting authority’s proposals and policies for adapting to climate

change in the exercise of its functions and the time-scales for introducing those proposals and

policies

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UK Adaptation Reporting Power: critical infrastructure (1)

Energy sector:

Electricity Distributors, generators, transmitters and gas transporters.

Best practice:

• Costs identified by energy distribution sector, such as adapting the

electricity distribution network to climate change and the costs of

replacing specific assets.

Challenges:

•Only comprises the risks that the organisations identified!

•Plans for monitoring and evaluating adaptation effectiveness are not clear

•Need to explore interdependencies

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EU: mainstreaming adaptation

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EU Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change Spring 2013 :

1.Enhancing the knowledgebase and widening access to information (research)

2. Mainstreaming adaptation into policies, strategies and programmes at EU level

3. Capturing the potential of the market, market-based instruments and the private sector

4. Support to and facilitation of collaboration, exchange of knowledge and best practice examples, etc. between Member States, regions, cities and other stakeholders

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Challenges…and solutions

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•Maladaptation: Energy intensive adaptation solutionsPerceived trade off/conflict between adaptation and mitigation

•Climate change is not the driver: Policy uncertaintyFinancial uncertainty

•Interdependencies: Cascade failures and regional convergences

•Role of local players: Impacts are local and need locally tailored responses

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Questions for discussion

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•Is there adequate understanding between adaptation and mitigation communities?

•What is the role of local players in bridging the gap?

Climate change could be the next legal battlefield: compensation claims for man-made environmental

damages would make the tobacco sector payouts look small.”

Financial Times, 14 July 2003