Infrastructure resilience under a changing climate: the urgent need for engineers to act

Abstract

Extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and intensity, as are associated hazards such as floods, wildfires and overheating. Long-term sea level rise could have devastating impacts on coastal communities. In the last 20 years there has been steady progress in embedding climate adaptation within engineering practice, but the climate is changing more rapidly than the engineering sector is responding. This short piece outlines the challenges and progress in adapting to climate change, and the tools available for engineers to act, now, to enable infrastructure resilience within our rapidly changing climate. Engineers can use sector guidance and international (ISO) and British standards to plan, design, refurbish, maintain and operate infrastructure under a changing climate. There are tools to build organisational capacity, so that key decision makers are aware of the need to address climate change and have the leadership to access expertise and implement change. The ICE and fellow engineering institutions must promote climate awareness and capacity building both for students in higher education and at a strategic level within their membership.