Reviewing the latest methods and research for valuing the costs and benefits of climate change risk and adaptation policy

1. Introduction and summary of requirements / Preamble

The Climate Change Committee is starting work on the 4th UK Climate Change Risk Assessment due to be published in 2026. To inform this, the CCC is tendering a project to understand the most up-to-date methodologies for valuing 1) the risk to the UK from climate change and 2) adaptation policies available to address this risk and 3) identifying the strengths and weaknesses of available approaches and where they would leave gaps.

Given project timescales, the tendered work needs to be delivered by the end of April 2023, at a cost of £50,000 - £80,000 plus VAT.

The CCC's past reports are available here: http://www.theccc.org.uk/reports

The outputs from the 3rd Climate Change Risk assessment are available here: http://www.ukclimaterisk.org

2. Background

The Climate Change Committee

The Climate Change Committee was set up as part of the Climate Change Act. The CCC is an independent body that advises the UK and Devolved Governments on both reducing emissions in the UK and adapting to the impacts of climate changes.

The UK Climate Change Risk Assessment

Under the Climate Change Act 2008 (section 57), an assessment of the risks facing the UK from the current and predicted impact of climate change is required every 5 years. The CCC is responsible for providing independent advice to the UK Government to inform that assessment.

The Committee has recently provided its advice to the UK Government on the risks and opportunities facing the UK from current and future climate change as part of the third Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA3) - this was summarised in its Independent Assessment of UK Climate Risk which was published in summer 2021.

The CCC's advice on the fourth UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA4) is due for completion by June 2026. CCRA4 is aiming to consider different ways of presenting the economic consequences of climate change to the UK economy using a more integrated approach than was possible under the previous Climate Change Risk Assessments. It is also looking to consider how potential adaptation policy packages can be appraised.

To inform this programme of economic analysis, the CCC is seeking to commission a creative and innovative piece of work establishing evidence on the existing methodologies adopted to-date for valuing climate impacts and appraising adaptation policy packages. Most importantly, the CCC are looking to encourage creative and innovative proposals on alternative/new methodologies to help inform the best approach and method design for the economic assessment to be used in CCRA4.

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