Climate adaptation research and innovation framework
Summary
The UK Government’s Climate Adaptation Research and Innovation Framework (UK Government, 2025) outlines a strategic approach to building national resilience in the face of climate change. Emphasising collaboration across research, policy, and industry, the framework identifies priority areas such as nature-based solutions, infrastructure resilience, and climate data integration. It aims to bridge knowledge gaps and accelerate the development of adaptive technologies and practices to support long-term societal and environmental sustainability.
Introduction
This Climate Adaptation Research and Innovation Framework outlines the research and innovation (R&I) needed to address the risks and opportunities identified in the UK Government’s third Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA3) and support adaptation plans across UK Governments and sectors. The Framework sets out R&I challenges across 11 sectors, based on the CCRA3 monitoring framework:
- Nature
- Working land and seas
- Food security
- Water supply
- Energy
- Telecommunications and ICT
- Transport
- Towns and cities and community preparedness/response
- Buildings
- Health
- Business and finance
Changing the way we do things, where we do things and when we do things can all help to reduce society’s vulnerability and exposure to the impacts of climate change. However, the effects of climate change will not be felt evenly across society. Those who are economically vulnerable and socially marginalised are likely to be most affected. Climate adaptation R&I needs to consider these socio-economic vulnerabilities so that adaption does not introduce or reinforce social inequalities. Adapting effectively also means exploiting opportunities presented by climate change where they arise, such as the possibility of growing and exporting different crops. R&I are required to enable this. The Framework also identifies cross-cutting and systems-wide issues and linkages between sectors. Ultimately, investments to develop both adaptation solutions and policy mechanisms are required to ensure that the UK adapts to a changing climate effectively and equitably.
A framework for prioritising research and innovation
This Framework aims to identify the main challenges requiring focused R&I to enhance the UK’s ability to adapt to climate change, as well as cross-cutting and systems-wide research issues and linkages between sectors. This includes improving our assessment of climate risk, supporting policy and implementation decisions, and driving innovative solutions to adaptation needs.
Adapting to climate change in the UK will require R&I investment across the public sector, businesses and research communities. Government-led funding can catalyse R&I in areas which the private sector is less likely to fund by de-risking investment in these areas. Public sector investment is also essential to ensure public sector assets are well-adapted to a changing climate. At the same time, UK businesses have a critical role to play in adaptation R&I, either on their own, or via joint public-private programmes.
A systems approach
A systems approach considers relationships and interdependencies among various components within a system, identifying factors of influence and the dynamic interactions that can combine to affect an outcome. Despite the additional complexity it brings, a systems approach can help to identify where there might be opportunities to maximise the co-benefits of adaptation across sectors and minimise any unintended consequences of adaptation action in one sector on others. Ways of measuring progress across the whole system, not just within the risk area in question, are required to better understand how adaptation interconnects across systems. We have identified the following cross‑cutting systems challenges, which are themselves interlinked.
| SYSTEMS CHALLENGE | KEY R&I NEEDS |
|---|---|
| Setting coherent adaptation goals and resilience standards, and monitoring progress | A clear societal goal and system-level objectives for adaptation are necessary to define adaptation success measures. |
| Harnessing data for well designed and implemented adaptation strategies | Data needs to be more accessible and interoperable to enhance monitoring and learning of adaptation activities by government agencies, industries and researchers. |
| Making the business case | Research is required to support economic assessment and to identify new business models that better weigh the expected costs and risks of proposed actions (including inaction or maladaptation) against expected returns and benefits. |
| Spatial analysis and a place-based approach | Improved spatial mapping of climate risk is important to understand how climate change might exacerbate existing economic, health and social inequalities, and a place-based approach can ensure actions are better tailored to the local context. |
| Understanding social, behavioural and governance barriers to adaptation and impacts of adaptation solutions | Understanding the social and behavioural barriers to adaptation action or inaction, and the economic, cultural, social and environmental impacts of adaptation solutions are crucial to ensuring sustained change. |
| Early warning systems and tailored climate services | Design and delivery of comprehensive operational early warning systems and tailored climate services – where climate science is translated for a specific application or purpose – are crucial to support public resilience to climate impacts and to ensure that emergency responders, infrastructure providers, food producers and supply chains can plan for and maintain operations during extreme events. |
Sectoral research and innovation challenges
The R&I needs identified for each sector are categorised into three challenge areas.
- Risk assessment: This relates to the evidence and methods needed to give a good understanding of the changing hazard, including the likelihood, magnitude and extent of extreme weather events, alongside changing exposure and vulnerability.
- Decision support and solutions: This relates to the evidence required by decision-makers, whether in governments or business, as well as the innovation, design, testing, cost-benefit analysis and evaluation of adaptation interventions.
- Data needs: This includes availability and access to evidence that underpins assessment and management of climate risks.
Source: Climate adaptation research and innovation framework, p21.
1. NATURE
Healthy natural ecosystems that can thrive despite climate change are essential not only for their intrinsic value, but also for the numerous benefits they provide to people and the UK economy, such as crop pollination and enhanced flood mitigation. If natural ecosystems are damaged, other societal goals (including climate adaptation, nature recovery and net zero) will increasingly be jeopardised (CCC, 2023). The R&I needs:
| RISK ASSESSMENT | DECISION SUPPORT AND SOLUTIONS | DATA NEEDS |
|---|---|---|
| Near-term risks, interaction between risks, interaction between nature and climate, wildfire risks, flooding, water resources and drought risks, coastal erosion risks, pests, pathogens and invasive species, social health and function, natural carbon stores and sequestration, impacts on habitats and species, nature-commercial sectors interactions, groundwater and aquifer system risks, temporary resilience, high resolution precipitation, temperature, wind, soil moisture and streamflow data | Measuring adaptation success, enabling resilient ecosystems, landscape-scale adaptation, early warning systems, soil management practices, nature-based solutions | Biodiversity and ecosystems monitoring, soil health and water quality, protected and local wildlife site conditions, citizen science data, marine species and habitats, society-nature interactions, terrestrial water cycle monitoring |
2. WORKING LAND AND SEAS
This sector includes agriculture, commercial forestry, and fisheries and aquaculture. These activities provide jobs, vital products and inputs to other sectors, while also contributing to food and resource (such as fibre, timber and biomass) security. Weather and climate-related disruptions in these sectors can have significant cascading economic, environmental and social impacts (CCC, 2023). The R&I needs:
| RISK ASSESSMENT | DECISION SUPPORT AND SOLUTIONS | DATA NEEDS |
|---|---|---|
| Productivity across land and seas, spatial assessment, climate-appropriate species research, agricultural shortfalls and risks, forestry, fish stocks, marine and land-based ecosystems, irrigation water needs, leaching risks, soils under climatic stresses, new species, impact of wildfires on net zero | Exposure and vulnerability, costs, communication, measuring adaptation success, balancing multiple goals, financing, water shortage management for agricultural purposes | Indicators, resilience of commercial species, agri-environment scheme uptake and outcomes, soil health, wildfire, marine and coastal environments, pests |
3. FOOD SECURITY
Food security will be affected by climate impacts on food production, both domestically and in regions overseas from which the UK imports food and feed, as well as climate hazards affecting the supply chains for food and feed. The R&I needs:
| RISK ASSESSMENT | DECISION SUPPORT AND SOLUTIONS | DATA NEEDS |
|---|---|---|
| Species-specific responses, food supply chains, vulnerability to price shocks, chemical contamination, opportunities for new food production and supplies | Early warning system, climate stress testing, trade-related responses, costs | Horizon scanning, food quality monitoring, efficiency and food waste, land use change |
4. WATER SUPPLY
The uninterrupted provision of clean water to households and businesses is necessary for comfortable homes, functioning business premises and public health. This needs to be maintained despite the range of current and future weather hazards that could be experienced (CCC 2023). The R&I needs:
| RISK ASSESSMENT | DECISION SUPPORT AND SOLUTIONS | DATA NEEDS |
|---|---|---|
| Water supply and quality risks, water use, connectivity, wastewater, grey water management | Nature-based programmes, costs, early warning systems, customers attitudes, science of incident responses, circular water systems and water shortage management, water use priorities, community-based water management practices | Monitoring and visibility of network, monitoring and planning for transfers, water use, spill monitoring, water quality monitoring |
5. ENERGY
The energy system encompasses the generation of electricity and the extraction and imports of fossil fuels (such as North Sea oil and gas), along with the transmission and distribution of electricity and fuels to consumers and industry. Secure and affordable energy supplies are essential for UK society and its economy to function, including critical sectors and services such as health, banking and telecoms (CCC 2023). The R&I needs:
| RISK ASSESSMENT | DECISION SUPPORT AND SOLUTIONS | DATA NEEDS |
|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure resilience, infrastructure interdependencies and risks, ecosystem capacity, heating and cooling demand, water resources for energy production, compounding hazard assessment, wind and solar energy and biodiversity, coastal risks, offshore energy assets, hydropower generation, risk on energy storage technologies | Investment, customers’ energy use, asset management systems for adaptation | Tracking, cooling, centralised data on weather-related outages, major infrastructure projects, local resilience groups, energy assets |
6. TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND ICT
Telecommunications (telecoms) and information communications technology (ICT) network infrastructure includes telephone, mobile communications and internet services, including around 500 data centres across the UK and extensive networks of optical fibres, cables and masts. This infrastructure is at the core of the UK’s economy and needs to be protected from disruption associated with extreme weather now and in the future. The R&I needs:
| RISK ASSESSMENT | DECISION SUPPORT AND SOLUTIONS | DATA NEEDS |
|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure resilience, interruptions, cascading failures and interdependent risks | Costs, coastal flood risk management | Weather related outages, vulnerability of assets, system-level resilience indicators, major infrastructure projects |
7. TRANSPORT
Transport infrastructure networks include strategic and local roads, railways, ports and airports. Functioning transport networks are necessary for personal mobility and public services, as well as corporate supply chains. Weather-related disruption to transport systems can cause significant cascading
impacts across society with substantial financial impacts. Weather conditions can also lead to the safety of transport system users being compromised (CCC, 2023). The R&I needs:
| RISK ASSESSMENT | DECISION SUPPORT AND SOLUTIONS | DATA NEEDS |
|---|---|---|
| Whole-system assessment, railway failure trajectories, slope and embankment failure, coastal risks, bridges, pipelines, culverts and drains, wind, flooding and heat, cascading failures and interdependent risks, electric vehicle and charging infrastructure vulnerability, climate impacts on operators, passengers and goods, risk to roads, risk to ports and ships, waste transport | Decision support tool, costs, enablers of adaptation action | Weather-related disruptions and costs, system-level resilience indicators, asset monitoring |
8. TOWNS & CITIES AND COMMUNITY PREPAREDNESS/RESPONSE
Most of the UK population live in urban areas. Towns and cities represent areas that are exposed to a high level of risk from climate change due to higher densities of people, buildings, infrastructure and businesses (CCC, 2023). Community preparedness and response covers local-level awareness, planning and response to weather and climate impacts, ensuring the protection of cultural heritage from the effects of climate change. The R&I needs:
| RISK ASSESSMENT | DECISION SUPPORT AND SOLUTIONS | DATA NEEDS |
|---|---|---|
| Whole-system assessment, risks on coastal cities and settlements, new technologies for assessment, improved flood modelling, cascading failures and interdependent risks, effective urban services under climate change, climate induced risks on tourism, costs and benefits, climate risks to communities, impact of climate change on tangible and intangible heritage, sectoral interrelations for community resilience, infrastructure | Nature-based solutions, resilience standards, public communication, land use planning, standardised risk mapping, public awareness for more efficient management of climatic risks, community-led adaptation programmes, green and blue infrastructure uptake, governance of urban risks, early warning systems and emergency services | Data sharing, standardised adaptation monitoring, monitoring asset deterioration, erosion monitoring, green infrastructure asset registry, new service conditions and extreme events definition, effectiveness of adaptation, data sharing and discussion, displacement, migration and immobility, systematic rapid evidence assessment |
9. BUILDINGS
Buildings should be healthy and comfortable places to spend time in all year round. This means warm in winter, cool in summer and resilient to climate hazards such as flooding. The building stock includes
residential and non-residential buildings, such as commercial buildings (offices and factories) and public buildings like schools, prisons and hospitals (CCC, 2023). The R&I needs:
| RISK ASSESSMENT | DECISION SUPPORT AND SOLUTIONS | DATA NEEDS |
|---|---|---|
| Hazards, damage mechanisms, overheating and air quality, vulnerability mapping, heat and moisture transfer, | Adaptation measures, repair, maintenance, retrofit and reuse of buildings, traditional or vernacular building technologies, technological advances for better risk management in building stocks, costs and benefits, opportunities, new design and construction practices in support of climate adaptation, heat strategies, behavioural adaptation | Accessible climate data, open database of adaptation options, standardisation, monitoring, public building stocks, health and wellbeing impacts of buildings |
10. HEALTH
To be well-adapted to climate change, the population should be healthy under current and future climate scenarios, and the health and social care system should continue to operate during extreme weather events (CCC, 2023). The R&I needs:
| RISK ASSESSMENT | DECISION SUPPORT AND SOLUTIONS | DATA NEEDS |
|---|---|---|
| Climate impacts on health, long-term heat exposure, impact of heat and extreme heat on vulnerable populations, interactions between heat and extreme heat and air pollution, climate-induced migration, | Safe working temperatures, costs, energy-efficient heat stress mitigation, advanced technologies for public health, healthcare resilience, public health messaging, better screening practices | Monitoring overheating, flooding and air quality, monitoring vectors an infectious diseases, tracking climate-induced mortality and morbidity, health opportunities from outdoor activities, disruption of health and social care services, passive cooling and flood protection measures |
11. BUSINESS AND FINANCE
Businesses must be able to function effectively in a changed climate. This will be through adapting their organisational practices, supply chains and physical sites, which in turn requires access to adaptation
finance. The financial system is a highly connected network of financial institutions – such as insurance companies, stock exchanges and investment banks – that work together to exchange and transfer
capital from one place to another. Through the financial system, investors receive capital to fund projects and receive a return on their investments. Financial services are a key element of the UK’s national
economy. The financial system is exposed to climate impacts directly through loans and investments that have exposure to physical impacts, and indirectly from its interaction with all parts of the economy. The R&I needs:
| RISK ASSESSMENT | DECISION SUPPORT AND SOLUTIONS | DATA NEEDS |
|---|---|---|
| Workforce and jobs, reduced employee productivity, flooding risks, water scarcity, disruption to supply chains and distribution networks, low likelihood, high impact and interacting risks, limits to insurability | Business planning and preparedness, commercial models, skills, multi-criteria decision, cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis, opportunities, standards, insurance markets, financial models, private investment, verification methodologies for adaptation plans and actions | Flooding, coastal change, water scarcity, case studies, scenario analysis, corporate assets, financial flows |
Using the framework
This Framework establishes a foundation for climate adaptation R&I planning within UK government and aims to provide a strategic tool to guide the R&I agendas within business and research communities.
Suggested Citation
UK Government (2025). Climate adaptation research and innovation framework. Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/climate-adaptation-research-and-innovation-framework
Climate Change Committee (2023). CCC Adaptation Monitoring Framework. https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/ccc-adaptation-monitoring-framework
Comments
There is no content