Reading’s first Adaptation Plan

I am delighted to share this first Adaptation Plan for Reading (please click on the following buttons to open the PDF documents, which you can view, download or print from).

Some of these adaptation ideas have already been picked up in the development of our New Strategy. We will learn more though over the next few years, as we get better prepared for the future.

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October’s pre-launch event

For more information please see the following summary of the Town Hall event from October 2019.

The Reading Climate Change Partnership has commissioned a first Adaptation Plan for Reading. This will help us to understand some of the climate-related risks that we face in our town. It will also give us some guidance about how we should respond to prepare for these changes.

Public Event

On the 22 October 2019 we held an event at the Town Hall, to give an introduction to the plan. This was followed by a good opportunity for public questions and answers.

As Chair of the RCCP, I gave a introduction, highlighting the need to think about climate change adaptation, and why we commissioned this report.

I talked about what is behind the Zero Carbon Reading 2030 target and how this fits with global carbon zero targets.
We face a profound choice: if we can move away from coal, oil and gas, within the next decade, we have a good chance of limiting climate change to 2 degrees C. If we don’t, we face the risk of more extreme weather events.
There is a growing public pressure for us to meet our low carbon targets but I finished by noting how the political and media focus is very much elsewhere.
Hence we need to think about adaptation, and get ourselves ready for a hotter and stormier future.

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Please note that some images may be subject to copyright. Credit: Chris Beales, October 2019

Jason Lowe (Met Office [based at Reading University]) then talked about the impacts of climate change for the UK and Reading specifically.

Jason started by noting some of the consequence of recent extreme weather events in the UK, including: the increase in hospital admissions resulting from the recent heat waves; and the damages associated with flooding.
He showed some of the visible changes we have seen in Reading’s temperature and rainfall records.
He then moved on to talk about the recent UK Climate Projections 2018 (UKCP18), which highlight a number of risks for the town including: hotter extreme temperatures; more rainfall in the winter season; potential for flash flooding.

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Please note that this presentation may be subject to copyright. Credit: Jason Lowe October 2019

Lisa Horrocks (Mott MacDonald) has been developing the Adaptation Plan. She talked about what is in there and some of the key lessons for us. The plan is divided into the following sections:

Impacts by Sector – matching the 6 themes in our new Strategy, with the key risks and opportunities.
Impacts by Place – focusing on 3 parts of the town: the town center, the riverside, and our residential (terrace) streets.
A number of Case Studies – which look at the adaption thinking from: The Oracle, Berkshire NHS Trust and the University.
And finally some advice for us on how to take adaptation planning forward: what to do right now; through to who should own this; and the next steps.

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Please note that this presentation may be subject to copyright. Credit: Lisa Horrocks, October 2019

Finally I returned to give a short presentation on what is next:

The following slide summarises my expectations from this first plan. It is important to note that it is a light touch first plan for the town. The emphasis is very much on learning about adaptation so we can get everybody on board.
There are a lot of things that we need to pick up on from this first plan.
We will need to start thinking about more detailed Adaptation Planning over the next couple of years.Whether this is to develop a single second plan or more targeted, sector-based plans. We will need to invest more money to make this happen. Hopefully we can build on some of the adaptive planning that has been pioneered by projects like Thames Estuary 2100.

Publishing the Plan

We will publish the plan on the ReadingCAN website after the general election. We need to wait until then due to government pre-election restrictions which affect some partners (notably the Chair of RCCP).

Chris Beales
November 2019

17 December 201919 November 2020

Christmas 2019 message from the Chair

Dear All,

The close of 2019 is rapidly approaching. It has been a huge year for us, as now a growing Reading Climate Action Network. A lot of good things have happened:

We declared a Climate Emergency in February, which has been a powerful inspiration;
Our board has strengthened, and capacity is building in some of our partners, for example the Council’s appointment of Peter Moore into a new post, as Climate Change Manger for RBC;
New sub-networks are building, including the Reading Business CAN;
There have been a lots of climate change related events, directly or indirectly connected with us, from Theme workshops to the inspiring Climate Strike and the Strategy launch;
The first Reading Adaptation Plan is finished, and will be uploaded here soon;
And, of course big job of writing the new Strategy has dominated the second half of the year, with a growing number of us shaping Reading’s direction for the next 5 years.

There have been challenges as well. Personally, it has been heavy going, trying to balance the chairship with the day job, fatherhood / family life and being a musician. Thank you for being patient if I have been slow to respond. I know I am not alone here, and I am hugely grateful to all of you who have put your time, knowledge and passion into ReadingCAN. We do rely on good will and volunteering. I know this has limits but I hope the seeds we sow here will help us grow and will help us build the case for more support (people and money).

Speaking about challenges, there has of course been a General Election. As I work in the public sector, I had to observe 5 weeks of pre-election silence. This was important but the timing was not great for the Strategy work. And the final result did not go the way I hoped it might. I noted the other party manifestos did offer more optimistic lines on climate change, which could have given us a real lift. However, there was no escape from the vortex of Brexit in this election.

The climate is still changing though, and this makes what we are doing even more important! We need to be there for our colleagues, families and friends in Reading. We need to show leadership; we need to support each-other; and we need to grow, learn and inspire over the next 5 years. We can make a real difference in bringing our carbon footprint down, and preparing the town for more extreme weather…the consequences of climate change. And we are not the only town doing this – the majority of Local Authorities have now declared Climate Emergencies so there is a wider network we can reach out to.

Where there is a will there is a way!

I wish you all Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

Chris Beales
ReadingCAN / RCCP Chair

18 November 201919 November 2020

Reading’s first Climate Change Adaptation Plan event (22 Oct)

Public Event

On the 22 October 2019 we held an event at the Town Hall, to give an introduction to the plan. This was followed by a good opportunity for public questions and answers.

As Chair of the RCCP, I gave a introduction, highlighting the need to think about climate change adaptation, and why we commissioned this report.

I talked about what is behind the Zero Carbon Reading 2030 target and how this fits with global carbon zero targets.
We face a profound choice: if we can move away from coal, oil and gas, within the next decade, we have a good chance of limiting climate change to 2 degrees C. If we don’t, we face the risk of more extreme weather events.
There is a growing public pressure for us to meet our low carbon targets but I finished by noting how the political and media focus is very much elsewhere.
Hence we need to think about adaptation, and get ourselves ready for a hotter and stormier future.

View Fullscreen

Please note that some images may be subject to copyright. Credit: Chris Beales, October 2019

Jason Lowe (Met Office [based at Reading University]) then talked about the impacts of climate change for the UK and Reading specifically.

Jason started by noting some of the consequence of recent extreme weather events in the UK, including: the increase in hospital admissions resulting from the recent heat waves; and the damages associated with flooding.
He showed some of the visible changes we have seen in Reading’s temperature and rainfall records.
He then moved on to talk about the recent UK Climate Projections 2018 (UKCP18), which highlight a number of risks for the town including: hotter extreme temperatures; more rainfall in the winter season; potential for flash flooding.

View Fullscreen

Please note that this presentation may be subject to copyright. Credit: Jason Lowe October 2019

Lisa Horrocks (Mott MacDonald) has been developing the Adaptation Plan. She talked about what is in there and some of the key lessons for us. The plan is divided into the following sections:

Impacts by Sector – matching the 6 themes in our new Strategy, with the key risks and opportunities.
Impacts by Place – focusing on 3 parts of the town: the town center, the riverside, and our residential (terrace) streets.
A number of Case Studies – which look at the adaption thinking from: The Oracle, Berkshire NHS Trust and the University.
And finally some advice for us on how to take adaptation planning forward: what to do right now; through to who should own this; and the next steps.

View Fullscreen

Please note that this presentation may be subject to copyright. Credit: Lisa Horrocks, October 2019

Finally I returned to give a short presentation on what is next:

The following slide summarises my expectations from this first plan. It is important to note that it is a light touch first plan for the town. The emphasis is very much on learning about adaptation so we can get everybody on board.
There are a lot of things that we need to pick up on from this first plan.
We will need to start thinking about more detailed Adaptation Planning over the next couple of years.Whether this is to develop a single second plan or more targeted, sector-based plans. We will need to invest more money to make this happen. Hopefully we can build on some of the adaptive planning that has been pioneered by projects like Thames Estuary 2100.

Publishing the Plan

Chris Beales
November 2019

20 September 201919 November 2020

Reading Climate Strike – Sept 2019

Well I needed a bit of a pick-me-up – joining the Reading Schools Climate Strike today certainly gave me that!

There was a big crowd outside the council offices that just kept growing. And listening to the chants of the schools children really did catch the heart strings. It made me very proud to be part of this town!

I was very pleased to have a chance to say a couple of words (see news update from 14:28)…

Unfortunately the sound dies halfway through the clip (from the GetReading website here). What I was saying though is that right now we are working on the new Climate Change Strategy for Reading. There is a lot to do, and we need your help.

If you have expertise please join us and help make sure we get the strategy right. And help us to get the message out…an social media experts out there, please get in touch!
Everybody though…we need your help to make this happen! Please be part of our developing Climate Action Network “ReadingCAN”. Encourage schoolmates, workmates, friends and family to join us too. And do check our new ReadingCAN.org.uk website. We are going to use it to host the strategy, climate events and everything we learn about how we can cut our carbon emissions and get ready for the climate challenges that the town faces.

Thank you to all of the organisers of today’s Strike. And especially to all of you who stood up to make sure there is a good future for our children, and their children to follow.

Take care all. With solidarity and respect,

Chris Beales
RCCP Chair

28 June 201919 November 2020

Things you can do about climate change – Interview with Chris Beales (RCCP Chair)

This is the third in the series of interviews with Ayo Sokale, in which Ayo asks me ‘…what things you can do about climate change’. I hope you find this useful.

This ReadingCAN.org.uk website will be building up a lot of information over the coming years, which will help us all to become better informed.
The other website mentioned, is the one I put together a few years ago. The Personal Action page is here: www.chrisbeales.net – personal action

28 June 201928 June 2019

Coping with hot weather

Heatwaves happen and they can be particularly dangerous for more vulnerable members of our community. With climate change we expect heatwaves to become increasingly likely so we need to be ready for them.

Tips for coping in hot weather

This advice is from the NHS website: heatwave how to cope in hot weather.

Shut windows and pull down the shades when it is hotter outside. You can open the windows for ventilation when it is cooler.
Avoid the heat: stay out of the sun and don’t go out between 11am and 3pm (the hottest part of the day) if you’re vulnerable to the effects of heat.
Keep rooms cool by using shades or reflective material outside the windows. If this isn’t possible, use light-coloured curtains and keep them closed (metallic blinds and dark curtains can make the room hotter).
Have cool baths or showers, and splash yourself with cool water.
Drink plenty of fluids and avoid excess alcohol – water, lower-fat milks and tea and coffee are good options. You can also drink fruit juice, smoothies and soft drinks, but they can be high in sugar. Limit fruit juice or smoothies to a combined total of 150ml a day, and choose diet or sugar-free soft drinks.
Listen to alerts on the radio, TV and social media about keeping cool.
Plan ahead to make sure you have enough supplies, such as food, water and any medications you need.
Identify the coolest room in the house so you know where to go to keep cool.
Wear loose, cool clothing, and a hat and sunglasses if you go outdoors.
Check up on friends, relatives and neighbours who may be less able to look after themselves.

Further information

Heatwave plan for england (.gov.uk website)

28 June 201919 November 2020

What is the RCCP? – Interview with Chris Beales (RCCP Chair)

In this second interview with Ayo Sokale, I talk about the Reading Climate Change Partnership (RCCP): who we are, and how we are trying to Get Reading Ready for the challenges of climate change.

This website, and the Reading Climate Change Strategy that it hosts, are going to help us to deliver our vision. However, it is critically important that we develop a strong network of people and organisations to really link through to everyone in the town. This is the Reading Climate Action Network (ReadingCAN), which I hope you’ll all join us in being a part of.

Ayo summed it up really nicely: “Reading CAN but it needs you to get engaged with it!”

11 June 201919 November 2020

About the new strategy consultation – Interview with Chris Beales (RCCP Chair)

It was my great pleasure to be interviewed by Ayo Sokale – one of Caversham’s new Councillors. This is the first in a series of five interviews. In this we talk about our plans for new Reading Climate Change Strategy.

We are writing the new strategy between now and Christmas. Please do get involved – you can find out more here:

Help us write the new Climate Strategy for Reading

5 April 201919 November 2020

RCCP Chair – 1 year on

It’s Spring again, and I can’t believe I’m half-way through my term as chair of the RCCP. The board met this morning, which was great. There is a busyness and anticipation about the Partnership at the moment…not surprising given all that is going on this year.

These last few months I have been focused on building capacity in the Partnership. Developing this website is one part – it has been labour of love for me so I hope you like it! And it going to play an important role as the container for our climate change strategy, and all of the information and events that come out of that.

The other thing has been working out how we hope to shape the Reading Climate Action Network, which will hopefully continue to grow and grow, as more people and businesses get involved with getting Reading ready to face the challenges of climate change. The development of our 3rd Strategy is going to be important in helping to build up the network. It will give everyone a really important thing to focus on.

In a couple of months we will have the public launch event, which is going to be really exciting. Groups will then start gathering people and ideas together, and crafting action plans that we make a real difference over the next 5 years. It’s something I hope lots of people get involved with. And by Christmas I look forward to seeing a really powerful strategy for our town.

Meanwhile, I am going to be busy helping to guide the development of Reading’s first Adaptation Plan. I’ll share more about this over the coming months. This Plan will paint an important picture of some of the challenges we face and what we can do about them. And this will mirror the work that Ben is doing, in the RBC, which will guide us on how we can cut our carbon emissions. Both plans will stand alone as important resources for the town but they will also be ready to feed ideas into the new strategy.

So yes, there is a lot going on, which is great! And the declaration of the Climate Emergency will hopefully add even more fuel to the fire. It is interesting (for me at least!) to look back at the Vision I set for us last year. We had just picked ourselves up from a very low point (and many thanks to my predecessor, Dan for guiding us through that!). So my vision was very much about growth. There is still much to do but – at this half-way point – I think we are doing really well.

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Our timeline is certainly nice and busy right now…

With many thanks to my RCCP partners, and everyone else who is supporting us in making this happen.

Chris Beales
RCCP Chair

8 February 201919 November 2020

Climate Emergency for Reading (update)

Brilliant news! Reading Borough Council unanimously voted to declare a Climate Emergency for Reading on Tuesday 26 February 2019.

See the broadcast of the Council meeting here: link to Webcast of RBC meeting.

Note that the petition is presented by 12yr old Skye and an Extinction rebellion campaigner at 10 mins in. It is great to see the passion and interest from our community here.
The main item is at ~1hr 45 mins in.
It was also reported in the Reading Chronicle (27 Feb)
You can view the declaration here…

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PDF document downloaded from: https://democracy.reading.gov.uk/documents/s3743/item11-ClimateChange-ALTERED.pdf

This is obviously a huge commitment for the town, with the demand for Zero Carbon by 2030…only 10 years away!

We will need everyone’s help to make this happen: public sector, businesses, national government, and all of us as individuals. We’re starting development of our third Reading Climate Change Strategy (2020-2025) so please do get involved and help us: come along to our Launch Event (13 June). There is a lot to do but together we can make it happen!

Wishing you well.

Chris Beales, RCCP Chair

Original post (8 Feb)

A very exciting news story for Reading: the council are looking to commit us to deliver Zero Carbon Reading by 2030. See the article in the Reading Chronicle (here).

We will update this post with more information over the next few days. There is obviously an enormous amount to do to make this happen…but it has to happen if we want any hope of limiting climate change to 1.5degC!

Over the next few months we will be starting our consultation on the next Reading Climate Change Strategy. This is an opportunity for everybody to get involved and help us get Reading ready for the challenges ahead.