http://www.climate-em.org.uk/ Climate East Midlands News en [email protected] Copyright 2013 2013-03-28T13:43:50+00:00 http://www.climate-em.org.uk/news/item/renewable-energy-opportunity-workshops/ http://www.climate-em.org.uk/news/item/renewable-energy-opportunity-workshops/#When:12:43:50Z Four DECC-funded renewable energy opportunity workshops are taking place over the summer for local authority stakeholders. Four DECC-funded renewable energy opportunity workshops are taking place over the summer for local authority stakeholders. Climate UK, our national network, has been commissioned by DECC to organise a programme of 4 free Renewable Energy workshops for local authority stakeholders. These will be designed to generate discussion on the costs, benefits, impacts and opportunities of renewable energy. The aim of the events is to improve understanding in order to enable positive and proactive action to be taken that recognises the needs of local areas. The events will be held in the following locations: 25th June East - Chelmsford 27th June North West - Preston 2nd July Midlands - Birmingham 4th July Yorkshire & Humber - York The events will be of interest to local authority colleagues involved in planning, economic development, community engagement and sustainability as well as to Local Enterprise Partnerships and Local Nature Partnerships. Delegates from other relevant organisations are also welcome to join the discussion. Places at the events are limited and we expect demand to be high. Save the date of an event near you and contact [email protected] to register your interest. More details to follow. 2013-03-28T12:43:50+00:00 http://www.climate-em.org.uk/news/item/how-best-to-communicate-climate-projections/ http://www.climate-em.org.uk/news/item/how-best-to-communicate-climate-projections/#When:12:30:52Z The past year has shown us how much we can be affected by extreme weather events and how much damage such events can cause. Scientists and government produce climate projections of the future to help organisations minimise such damages under a changing future climate. Are climate projections being communicated in a format that you can understand? Are there easier, more intuitive, ways of visualising and communicating the same information? Take part in an online survey to share your views. The past year has shown us how much we can be affected by extreme weather events and how much damage such events can cause. Scientists and government produce climate projections of the future to help organisations minimise such damages under a changing future climate. Are climate projections being communicated in a format that you can understand? Are there easier, more intuitive, ways of visualising and communicating the same information? A research project at the University of Leeds, undertaken by Susanne Lorenz, formerly climate change adaptation officer at Derbyshire County Council, is exploring what works and what doesn’t work for people who need to make decisions to make their organisations and businesses more resilient and future-proof. This project explores to what extent you understand and interpret visualisations of climate projections: are your needs being met? It is very important to understand your views and feed that back to the scientists. This research aims to improve scientific communication to help you and others better understand and interpret climate projections. To this end a survey trialling a number of different climate visualisations to explore your views has been created. If you could spare 20 minutes then please click on the link below and take a look. https://www.survey.leeds.ac.uk/climatevis The survey will be open until the end of April 2013. If you have any questions about the survey or the research project please contact Susanne Lorenz [email protected]   2013-03-27T12:30:52+00:00 http://www.climate-em.org.uk/news/item/business-resilience-in-derbyshire/ http://www.climate-em.org.uk/news/item/business-resilience-in-derbyshire/#When:09:03:19Z On 12th March we held the last of the current series of business resilience workshops in the East Midlands. Our final port of call was Chesterfield in Derbyshire, and our hosts were Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce. On 12th March, our final business resilience workshop of the current series in the East Midlands was held in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, and hosted by Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce. The workshop was part of our Building Business Resilience project, funded by the Environment Agency. As with all the workshops, businesses attended from a range of sectors, including distribution/ logistics, manufacturing, health and care, electrical wholesale, and food processing. The purpose of the workshop was to raise awareness of how weather patterns are likely to change due to climate change, to help businesses think about the impacts this will have on their operations and supply chains, and to explore action that business can take to make themselves more resilient. Each participant was given a copy of our Weathering the Storm guide, which includes useful sources of information and advice for businesses. Liz Partington, Emergency Planning Manager at Derbyshire County Council, made the case for strengthening business resilience to severe weather: increased resilience will help a business to protect its reputation, increase stakeholder confidence, maintain service delivery, and potentially reduce insurance premiums. Liz highlighted the top risks identified in Derbyshire's Community Risk Register, which includes all types of severe weather and both river flooding and surface water flooding. She then talked through the kinds of questions businesses need to ask themselves, to help them anticipate potential disruptive events, and to understand which are their critical business functions and how long they could cope without them. She also outlined risk management strategies and recovery strategies. For more information, see Derbyshire Prepared, the Local Resilience Forum website. Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce provided a case study of how their Chesterfield office has been affected by heavy snowfall, and how they coped with it. Scott Knowles, Deputy Chief Executive of the Chamber, came and talked to the workshop participants about the organisation's priority of maintaining its services to its members, and managing the operational impacts of severe weather. The final presentation was from Zoe Wharmby from the Environment Agency, on flood risk mapping and flood warnings. Zoe described the different kinds of flooding, and the Environment Agency's roles and responsibilities in preparing for and responding to floods. On the Environment Agency website, business can find advice on how to prepare a flood plan for your business, find out whether you are located in a flood risk area, and sign up to receive Flood Warnings. The workshop included plenty of time for discussion, and the businesses present gained valuable insights through sharing their experiences with each other. Key points raised during the discussion included: Businesses need to consider how they would cope if they experienced severe weather impacts out of hours, at the weekend, over Christmas or over bank holidays. For example, contacting alternative suppliers could be more challenging at these times. A related issue is that severe weather impacts may be affecting a large part of your locality. Therefore alternative suppliers may be inundated with requests for equipment such as heaters or pumps and unable to meet demand (assuming they are still trading and are not badly affected by the severe weather impacts themselves). Taking responsibility for your own resilience and making the most of the resources you've got: several companies said that they had invested in equipment to clear snow themselves, or they had adapted existing equipment for the task. Actively review and refresh business continuity plans and check emergency contacts are up to date. One plan can't cover everything. Managers need to be able to use their discretion. On their evaluation forms, participants provided the following feedback: How valuable was the worksop as a whole? "Very valuable" "Very good, thought provoking." "Added additional perspective to current continuity planning." How will you act on what you have learnt? "Produce an action list and implement." "Report to senior management team." "Adding certain items to the business continuity plan." Any comments on the organisation/ promotion of the event, the location, venue, format etc.? "Promotion was good, location was suitable and format was good as it kept the audience engaged." "Good venue, well presented." "Well delivered and lots of examples and illustrations." 2013-03-20T09:03:19+00:00 http://www.climate-em.org.uk/news/item/business-resilience-in-nottinghamshire/ http://www.climate-em.org.uk/news/item/business-resilience-in-nottinghamshire/#When:10:04:20Z The fourth of our workshops for businesses in the East Midlands took place on 7th February, hosted by Boots in Nottingham. This workshop included a live demonstration of how severe weather can impact on a business, using nothing but rocks, sand, a pint glass and some water! A wide range of businesses attended Climate East Midlands' business resilience workshop, hosted by Boots in Nottingham on 7th February. The workshop was part of our Building Business Resilience project, funded by the Environment Agency. The workshop began with Climate East Midlands introducing key messages from the UKCP09 climate projections, the steps businesses of different sizes can take to increase their resilience, and the support available to help businesses take these steps. Each participant was given a copy of our Weathering the Storm guide, which includes useful sources of information and advice for businesses. Next up was Paul Scragg, Emergency Planning Officer at Nottingham City Council, representing the Local Resilience Forum. Paul got people's attention by giving a live demonstration of how severe weather can affect a business. Using rocks of varying sizes to represent the business's priority areas, sand, a pint glass and some water, the point of the demonstration was to show how disruptive a severe weather event can be, and how a business can make itself more resilient by understanding its priority areas and the critical activites that need to be the focus of its business continuity plan. Paul's presentation shared examples of comparatively small events (such as a burst pipe or a leaky roof, both weather-related) to explain that they may be just as disruptive as an extreme event, and perhaps more likely to occur. Zoe Wharmby from the Environment Agency provided information on flood risk mapping and their flood warning service. Zoe explained the various sources of flooding (rivers, surface water, groundwater and structural failure; coastal flooding not being an issue in Nottinghamshire) and described the past impacts of flooding in the East Midlands. EA staff have special roles during flood events, including flood warning, operational actions, data collecting and flood ambassadors. EA and Met Office staff monitor river and sea levels 24/7. Duty officers interpret the information and make judgements based on forecast thresholds, local knowledge and on-site observations. If needed, flood warnings are issued. Find out more about flood warnings, and check flood risk in your area, on the Environment Agency website. Last but not least, Phil Bates from the Institution for Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) introduced the health and safety implications of severe weather events, e.g. flood hazards including the dangers during the clearing-up phase, personal protection kit, heatwave hazards, windstorms/tornado hazards, winter hazards, and advice on ways to help staff cope with such events, both to ensure business continuity and to protect their health and wellbeing. IOSH is the world's biggest professional health and safety membership organisation. Interesting points raised during discussions included: The challenges of deciding which risks to manage, and weighing up the costs of adapting. Businesses could be less well prepared for events that don't happen very frequently, and consequently it's important to exercise business continuity plans to make sure they work in real life, not just on paper. Flooding has a multitude of knock-on consequences, including potentially leading to loss of power. When flood risk is described using probabilities it can be confusing. For example, a "1 in 5 year" flood means that there is a 20% chance of such a flood occurring annually. On their evaluation forms, participants provided the following comments: "Excellent - plenty of food for thought." "Helped build knowledge for developing site risk plan." "Very interesting and informative." Participants said they were planning to use the information from the workshop when they got back to their place of work, for example: "Sharing with senior management and producing a robust continuity plan." "Sharing. Reviewing plans. Checking. Thinking outside the box." "Will use info in BCP project - consider climate." If you would like to find out about forthcoming business resilience workshops, please see our Events section. 2013-02-13T10:04:20+00:00 http://www.climate-em.org.uk/news/item/business-resilience-in-leicestershire-and-rutland/ http://www.climate-em.org.uk/news/item/business-resilience-in-leicestershire-and-rutland/#When:14:19:26Z On 31st January we held another of our business resilience workshops, this time hosted by Severn Trent Water at the Leicester Water Centre. This workshop added new perspectives, with speakers from the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) and Severn Trent Water. As with the other workshops in this series, the aim is to help local businesses increase their resilience to severe weather and climate change. On 31st January, Climate East Midlands facilitated the third in our series of business resilience workshops, this time for businesses across Leicestershire and Rutland. The workshop was hosted by Severn Trent Water at the Leicester Water Centre, and the purpose was to help local businesses to increase their resilience to severe weather and climate change. These workshops are part of Climate East Midlands' Building Business Resilience project, funded by the Environment Agency. First up was Howard Perry, Climate Change and Carbon Analyst at Severn Trent Water (STW). Howard explained the issues that STW grapples with when considering climate change and severe weather, the tools they use to understand the potential impacts, and the way that they approach decision-making to increase their resilience. STW's priority is maintaining their service to customers, and successful adaptation to climate change means balancing risk and cost, and careful decision-making about how quickly to implement adaptation measures. They use the UKCP09 climate projections, and map out the activities they undertake to deliver a particular service, in order to understand the likely impacts of climate change. They work in partnership and consult stakeholders to develop their plans. More information about STW's work to adapt to climate change is available on their website. Julie Goddard, Business Continuity Manager at Leicestershire County Council, explained the principles of business contintuity management, illustrated with real-life examples from around the world. Risks need to be anticipated and prevented as far as possible, but where prevention fails, a robust business continuity plan which is realistic, practical and rehearsed is needed. Julie emphasised the importance of exercising your business continuity plan, and making sure that your suppliers have business continuity plans of their own in place. A representative from Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service participated in the workshop, and shared his experience of how they work with businesses during emergencies. More information about business continuity can be found on Leicestershire County Council's website. In keeping with our other business resilience workshops, we also provided information on flood risk mapping and flood warning, thanks to the Environment Agency (EA). The speakers at this workshop were Lucy Jarvis and Zoe Wharmby, who both work in flood risk management. They explained the various sources of flooding (rivers, surface water, groundwater and structural failure; coastal flooding not being an issue in Leicestershire) and described the past impacts of flooding in the East Midlands. EA staff have special roles during flood events, including flood warning, operational actions, data collecting and flood ambassadors. EA and Met Office staff monitor river and sea levels 24/7. Duty officers interpret the information and make judgements based on forecast thresholds, local knowledge and on-site observations. If needed, flood warnings are issued. Find out more about flood warnings, and check flood risk in your area, on the Environment Agency website. The workshop included a new perspective on severe weather impacts, from the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH). Phil Bates, Senior Policy and Technical Adviser, introduced the health and safety implications of severe weather events, e.g. flood hazards including the dangers during the clearing-up phase, personal protection kit, heatwave hazards, windstorms/tornado hazards, winter hazards, and advice on ways to help staff cope with such events, both to ensure business continuity and to protect their health and wellbeing. IOSH is the world's biggest professional health and safety membership organisation. Interesting issues raised in discussions included how severe weather impacts in the surrounding area, and impacts on customers, could impact on a business indirectly, even if it wasn't directly impacted. For example, if roads are flooded, a business could have difficulty getting staff, goods and services on and off site, even if the site itself isn't flooded. The EA's flood warning service can be useful here, because businesses can register to receive flood warnings on an "area of interest", e.g. a key road that is at risk of flooding. Other issues included partnership working to share 4x4 vehicles during severe winter weather, and volunteer groups of 4x4 owners. It was also suggested that there are benefits to businesses getting to know their neighbours, as they may be able to call on each other's expertise during an emergency. Participants commented that the workshop was "Very useful" and "Very valuable". Some intended to follow it up by sharing the information with their colleagues, and by indentifying specific actions to undertake. If you would like to find out about forthcoming business resilience workshops, please see our Events section. 2013-02-12T14:19:26+00:00 http://www.climate-em.org.uk/news/item/lincolnshire-businesses-discuss-resilience/ http://www.climate-em.org.uk/news/item/lincolnshire-businesses-discuss-resilience/#When:13:18:11Z On a snowy January morning, Climate East Midlands facilitated a workshop for businesses in Lincolnshire designed to help them increase their resilience to severe weather. The workshop was hosted by Simons Group in Lincoln. On 15th January, businesses from across Lincolnshire attended a workshop facilitated by Climate East Midlands, and hosted by Simons Group in Lincoln, to find out more about increasing their resilience to severe weather. The workshop was the second in a series of workshops across the East Midlands, and part of Climate East Midlands' Building Business Resilience project, funded by the Environment Agency. Rosi Fieldson, Head of Environment at Simons Group, gave a presentation introducing severe weather impacts on businesses and the economy. She described how leading businesses are starting to consider the effects that climate change could have on their operations and supply chains, and manage the risks accordingly. Rosi included some case studies of construction projects that Simons Group is working on or has recently completed, demonstrating how resilience to severe weather and climate change has been built-in to prolong the life of the buildings, keeping temperatures comfortable, and reducing the risk of flooding. Sue Whitton from the Lincolnshire Joint Emergency Management Service introduced the Community Risk Register for Lincolnshire, which helped to illustrate the importance of including severe weather in business continuity planning. Sue explained the benefits of business continuity planning, how to get senior management and board member buy-in, and gave advice on how to implement business contintuity management. She also covered the things to consider to ensure that a supplier has an effective business continuity plan in place. John Ray from the Environment Agency gave an overview of the history of flooding in Lincolnshire, and the current level of flood risk, the key message being that the county is one of the most low-lying and vulnerable to flooding in the UK. However, John and Sue were able to reassure the workshop participants that as a result of focused, coordinated work over recent years, the county is also one of the best prepared for flooding in the UK. He then explained the EA's work to reduce the risk of flooding in Lincolnshire, through new flood defences, maintenance works and flood warnings, and how they work with partners. John and his colleagues provided participants with an opportunity to sign up for the EA's flood warning service during the workshop. The workshop was a mixture of presentations, discussion and interactive exercises. Some interesting topics discussed included whether having a business continuity plan would lead to a reduced insurance premium, and the dialogue needed between businesses and their insurers. One of the participants was an insurance specialist so was able to provide useful insights. It was notable at this workshop that a number of participants were representing companies that offer solutions to those affected by severe weather events, including speed-drying services for flooded buildings. It was evident that there are companies out there taking advantage of the business opportunities that severe weather and climate change have to offer. We received very positive feedback on the workshop from the participants: "Very thought provoking and a useful networking opportunity." "Very useful. We have a Business Contintuity Plan in place - workshop raised a few ideas and further thoughts." "[I will] share with colleagues, publish [a] report internally for further discussion with a view to action." "First class." If you would like to find out about forthcoming business resilience workshops, please see our Events section. 2013-01-22T13:18:11+00:00 http://www.climate-em.org.uk/news/item/the-wrapper-bumper-seasonal-edition/ http://www.climate-em.org.uk/news/item/the-wrapper-bumper-seasonal-edition/#When:12:24:56Z The second edition of our newsletter The Wrapper in its new digital form is now available in bumper seasonal form. Happy New Year! This seasonal edition of our newsletter dips a seasonal toe into our growing library of case studies by picking up on Derbyshire County Council's work on extreme winter weather management, reflects on the outcomes of the recent UN climate talks in Doha, highlights the growing impact of extreme weather on major corporations and introduces our work to build business resilience here in the East Midlands. We also introduce our new Chair, Cllr Neil Clarke from Rushcliffe Borough Council. We sum up some of the many recent developments in national energy policy, talk about the East Midlands Green project and their first Green Deal/ECO opportunity study for Chesterfield Borough Council, and remind readers about the Zero Carbon Hub's Nearer to Zero events. We shine a spotlight on Derby's work to generate hydropower from the River Derwent and long term plans to protect the city centre from major river flooding. We offer to send out handy packs of printed case studies and guidance materials produced by the Climate Change Skills Programme and share Leicestershire's work to get their public service providers 'Climate Ready'. We invite you to view our latest CO2 trend visualisations for your area and welcome Gavin Fletcher to his new post with the Sustainable Harborough Challenge. Plus we describe some of the great work being done by the East Midlands NHS Sustainable Development Network and finally, plug a forthcoming Health and Wellbeing event we're organising as part of a national programme. Click here to view The Wrapper - a regular wrapping up of climate stories from around the East Midlands and a reminder that if the Earth were football sized, the atmosphere would be as thin as a sheet of newspaper wrapped around it. Enjoy! 2013-01-04T12:24:56+00:00 http://www.climate-em.org.uk/news/item/2012-uks-second-wettest-year/ http://www.climate-em.org.uk/news/item/2012-uks-second-wettest-year/#When:11:24:09Z New figures from the Met Office show that 2012 was the second wettest year on record for the UK, with total rainfall just a few millimetres short of that which fell in 2000. Figures for the Midlands show that this area received (in 2012) 135% of the average rainfall received over the period 1981 - 2010. The Met Office has also observed a UK trend of gradually increasing total rainfall over recent decades and more frequently occurring extreme rainfall events, a trend also observed in India and China. New figures from the Met Office show that 2012 was the second wettest year on record for the UK, with total rainfall just a few millimetres short of that which fell in 2000. Figures for the Midlands show that this area received (in 2012) 135% of the average rainfall received over the period 1981 - 2010. The Met Office has also observed a UK trend of gradually increasing total rainfall over recent decades and more frequently occurring extreme rainfall events, a trend also observed in India and China.  View the Met Office news story and figures here. The story of the year (which was England's wettest on record) is well illustrated in these maps and graphics from the BBC and in these evocative photos from The Guardian, which take in some of the year's big events including the Diamond Jubilee, Wimbledon, the Olympic Torch Relay and the Olympics themselves. 2013 wasn't very old before the President of the National Farmers Union, Peter Kendall, spoke publicly about the challenges faced by farmers in last year's extreme weather (which started off with widespread drought in the South and East of the country) and the Financial Times reported on the estimated £1.3bn cost to farmers and the predictions that food price rises may well follow. So the climate is well and truly in the headlines once again and Climate East Midlands is doing its bit to help local organisations gear up - with a programme of Building Business Resilience workshops and new East Midlands award scheme, an event for Health and Wellbeing stakeholders and a Community Climate and Resilience conference all in the pipeline. See our seasonal bumper newsletter for more details. 2013-01-04T11:24:09+00:00 http://www.climate-em.org.uk/news/item/building-business-resilience-in-northamptonshire/ http://www.climate-em.org.uk/news/item/building-business-resilience-in-northamptonshire/#When:09:55:41Z On 27th November 2012, Climate East Midlands held the first of a series of workshops to engage businesses directly on issues around resilience to severe weather and climate change. Given the recent heavy rain and flooding, the focus on including severe weather in business continuity planning was particularly topical. Workshops in Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire are coming up in January - March, along with others in the West Midlands. The first of a series of workshops to help businesses in the East Midlands increase their resilience to severe weather and climate change, took place in Northampton on 27th November 2012. The workshops are part of Climate East Midlands' Building Business Resilience project, funded by the Environment Agency. Given the recent heavy rain and flooding, these workshops come at a time when the issues are high on the agenda for businesses. Presentations on how climate change is likely to affect businesses, and the need for severe weather and climate change to be included in business continuity planning, fed into discussions which helped the participants work out the key threats and opportunities for their own organisations, along with ideas on how to increase their resilience. The workshop in Northampton was organised in collaboration with Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnership and Northamptonshire County Council, and hosted by Sainsbury’s Distribution Centre in Northampton. Very positive feedback was received, including the following comments: How valuable was the workshop as a whole? "Opportunity to review current Business Continuity Plan, in light of climate change." "It was a good opportunity to share thoughts, concerns, ideas with different companies." "Thought provoking, good discussion." "Very helpful - lots of practical hints." How will you act on what you have learnt? "Review the current Business Continuity Plan and ensure flooding is included." "Review at next Department Heads meeting." "Review business continuity plans; adjust and publish!" "Check on current disaster plan and include areas that are missing - needs to be communicated at all levels."  Up-coming workshops Lincolnshire: 15th January 2013, hosted by Simons Group in Lincoln Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland: 31st January 2013, hosted by Severn Trent Water in Leicester Nottinghamshire: 7th February 2013, hosted by Boots in Nottingham Derbyshire: 12th March 2013, hosted by Derbyshire and Notinghashire Chamber of Commerce in Chesterfield Climate East Midlands is also very pleased to be supporting partners (Sustainability West Midlands and Staffordshire Business Environment Network) by facilitating a further 6 workshops in the West Midlands between January and April. The details of all the events in the East and West Midlands, together with the Midlands Business Resilience Award are in this downloadable flyer. For more information please see the Events section or contact [email protected] to book your place. 2012-11-30T09:55:41+00:00 http://www.climate-em.org.uk/news/item/weathering-the-storm/ http://www.climate-em.org.uk/news/item/weathering-the-storm/#When:07:40:22Z A fully revised and updated edition of “Weathering the Storm”, Climate East Midlands’ popular guide for businesses, has been published. It is free to download. Climate East Midlands has fully updated its guide to help businesses increase their resilience to severe weather and climate change. The guide, called "Weathering the storm: saving and making money in a changing climate", was originally published in 2010, and has been updated in 2012. Updates include revised text and refreshed links and sources of further information. This highly accessible guide introduces businesses to how the climate is likely to change and what it will mean for them. Sections on insurance, premises, people, utilities, IT and data security, suppliers, logistics and delivery, products, processes, stock and raw materials set out the issues to consider, action to take, and where to find further information. Also covered are the issues specific to agricultural and horticultural businesses. Case studies give real-life examples of organisations that have taken action increase their resilience. Download the guide here Find out more about our Environment Agency funded project to build business resilience to severe weather and climate change. For more information contact [email protected] 2012-11-28T07:40:22+00:00