With the Climate Change Committee warning that, 20 years after the passage of the Climate Change Act, the UK remains poorly prepared for the physical risks brought about by climate change, Lee Adcock, group sustainability director at Genuit Group, argues that climate adaptation in the built environment increasingly comes down to delivery capability, rather than policy ambition alone
The recent Well-Adapted UK report from the Climate Change Committee (CCC) sends a clear warning that the UK is not ready for the physical risks of climate change. Flooding, overheating and water stress are growing threats, and we need to move quickly from analysis to action.
To get serious about climate adaptation in the built environment, we should look at where it actually happens – in homes, in schools, hospitals, offices and through decisions made every day by builders, planners and suppliers. That is where resilience will flourish or falter.
Underestimating risks, overlooking solutions
One of the CCC’s clearest findings is the lack of awareness around climate risk, not just among households but across the wider built environment sector. From homeowners to
installers, too many people still underestimate the risks, don’t know what practical steps they can take, or don’t have the right information and training to act confidently.
That gap matters because many of the solutions already exist. The challenge is not always technological innovation; it is consistent implementation. As a manufacturer working across housing and infrastructure, we see proven approaches specified too late, applied inconsistently or overlooked altogether.
Take overheating in homes. The CCC notes that rising temperatures will make this a mounting risk to health and wellbeing, especially for vulnerable people. Yet many
households, and even some installers, still reach instinctively for energy-intensive air conditioning.
Low-carbon HVAC systems can provide both heating and cooling efficiently when specified properly from the outset, but adaptation measures are rarely considered in a joined-up way. Decisions around ventilation, cooling, insulation and energy efficiency are too often fragmented throughout the supply chain.
The same pattern happens in water management. Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) are well proven as a way to reduce surface water flooding, yet they’re still too often treated as an afterthought or tick-box exercise.
Greater recognition of their benefits – from biodiversity and urban greening to water quality and public amenity – would help embed them earlier in the planning and development. The CCC rightly calls for statutory SuDS requirements across England, but regulation alone will not do the job.
Delivery depends on the confidence to integrate these systems consistently and maintain them effectively over time.
The capability gap
The truth of the matter is that products designed with climate resilience in mind are only as effective as the capabilities of the people fitting and maintaining them. That means a national effort to upskill tradespeople, with adaptation (and mitigation) embedded into vocational training, site-based learning and procurement frameworks.
None of this means progress moving at the pace necessary is impossible. The UK already has the technical expertise needed to adapt more effectively. What is missing is the consistency, coordination and urgency required.
At Genuit, we believe that means clear guidance, smarter specifications, stronger training, and better coordination across the board. Adaptation will not be achieved through strategy documents. It will be built gradually through thousands of everyday decisions made across the country.
The world is changing but we already know much of what needs to be done to prepare. Now we must build the capability to deliver it at scale.
The post Climate adaptation starts at home. We need to build capability from the ground up appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today.
