Climate adaptation and resilience – what does this mean for the initiation and delivery of major projects?

In the winter of 2014 the south and west of England, and Wales, was hit by a number of huge storms. Winds of over 100 mph were accompanied by heavy rain fall where in some places a year's total fell in a matter of hours. The outcome of these storms was a significant number of homes flooded, major damage to infrastructure, sustained power outages and general misery for thousands of people. In one widely reported incident, the main south west rail line was washed out at Dawlish. The Somerset Levels looked like a vast lake as they flooded and remained water bound for some time. Critics claim that successive Governments have failed to make contingency plans for major weather incidents and have not made sufficient emergency funding available to assist hard pressed communities. The baseline has shifted and this has an impact on the major project world. It is not necessarily that these risks were unforeseen nor that the response was not well considered but combination of impacts overwhelmed the system. Sometimes, the risk budget is cut back as the project owners do not wish to commit large sums to events that may not happen; sometimes the sheer scale of the risk incident is so large that even where good provision has been made, it is not adequate. The recent weather ‘events' in UK will no doubt affect many projects, cause other projects to be instigated (such as emergency repairs on damaged rail lines) and yet others to be curtailed. At this roundtable discussion we will consider, amongst other things, What does this shifting baseline mean for the initiation and delivery of major projects? Has the baseline shifted? What does this mean? Should we plan for failure? Who owns the contingency and how is its use authorized? This breakfast meeting is by invitation only and will be chaired by Keith Clarke CBE, Chair, Forum for the Future. If you or a colleague has a keen interest in this topic please contact the MPA office for further details concerning attendance 01865 338373