No matter how successful global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions prove to be, the effects of climate change (long-term changes in weather patterns and the increase in frequency and intensity of extreme weather events) will continue to affect our environment, society and the economy. So it’s essential that the organisations responsible for key services and infrastructure can accurately assess the risks and impacts of climate change and make plans to respond and adapt, as part of their governance and management processes.
The UK Government’s Adaptation Reporting Power (ARP) asks organisations like Network Rail to detail how they are becoming more resilient to climate change, and what decisions and plans they are making on how and when to adapt. In this, ARP statements must set out how organisations examine and address climate risks to their infrastructure, staff, services and operations, supply chains, stakeholders and regulatory functions. WSP worked in partnership with Network Rail to create a clear, comprehensive and engaging statement for its third round of reporting: ARP3.
Consolidated risk assessment
Network Rail has already completed significant volumes of work to understand the risks climate change poses to its organisation, infrastructure and the services it supplies. This work includes examining key trends in weather-related impacts to the performance of assets and the network, as well as progressing adaptation measures across the country. As part of the ARP3 report, we brought all this together to produce a consolidated climate risk assessment, based on a detailed assessment and scoring matrix.
As part of the process, we identified the most severe risks the network faces currently, in the 2050s and in the 2080s as a result of:
- Precipitation
- Sea level rise (including coastal erosion and flooding)
- Temperature
- Storms and wind events
For example, flooding can short-circuit the power supply to trains or cause trackside equipment to fail, while snow can cause points to freeze - increasing the risk of delays and derailment.
After assessing and scoring these and all the other climate risks, we found that impacts from flooding, wind and subsidence are three of the most impactful and costliest weather-related risks to Network Rail and its customers, followed by those from snow, ice and temperature. To illustrate the challenges and significant adverse effects from climate that Network Rail faces, we included a wide range of case studies in the ARP document.
Actions and interdependencies
We captured in the ARP statement how Network Rail has already been taking action to adapt to climate change to reduce the risk and severity of impacts. Assessing its progress in this context was a key requirement for the ARP3 report. Overall, we reported that Network Rail has made huge progress in responding to climate risks through its strategies and programmes, risk management, research and analysis, standards and guidance and collaboration.
For example, to ensure strategies and programmes are based on the best available data and research, Network Rail invests in innovative asset management activities, modern technologies and operational systems as well as engaging a wide range of organisations. These include leading universities, the RSSB, Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) and the Natural Environment Research Centre (NERC), as well as other institutions and consultancies.
But there is a limit to what any one organisation can achieve alone: building a resilient rail network relies on understanding the relationships and interdependencies between the multiple organisations and sectors that rely on each other. For example, rail relies on other transport networks and they, in turn, rely on rail. Visualising these interdependencies in the report enabled us to highlight the huge risk they pose to Network Rail and other organisations. This is an important step in the next big challenge: sectors working together to adapt to climate change.
Informing government plans
Now submitted to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, the final ARP 3 document joins those from other organisations and provides the UK Government with a valuable opportunity to examine climate change risks across sectors and feed those into its plan for how the UK can adapt.
Since completing the report, our Climate Resilience team has also contributed to a workshop helping inform the Climate Change Committee’s own assessment of the ARP process. The workshop explored barriers in risk assessments, the synergy of the ARPs with other reporting and suggestions for changes to the next round.
