The Flood Hub

Environment Agency Press Release

The Environment Agency’s FCERM Strategy Action Plan will help to better protect over hundreds of thousands more homes and businesses in the years ahead.

Communities, local authorities and government working together is crucial if we are to tackle the climate emergency, the Environment Agency said today, as it launched its annual Action Plan to help protect England from flooding and coastal erosion.

England currently remains on course for 59 per cent more winter rainfall and once-a-century sea level events every year by 2100 and major adaptation will be required to meet the changing climate picture.

Involving local authorities, businesses, farmers, voluntary organisations, and infrastructure providers, the measures set out in the FCERM (Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management) Strategy Action Plan will help ensure the nation is ready for, and resilient to, flooding and coastal change.

As the country recovers from the coronavirus pandemic, the Action Plan sits alongside a £5.2 billion investment from government in better protecting 336,000 properties by 2027. It plays an important part in coordinating efforts to ensure a clean, green recovery with climate resilience at its heart.

Examples from the Action Plan include the Environment Agency working with:

• The National Flood Forum to expand the network of community flood groups, to support residents and local businesses to develop flood response plans and train flood wardens.
• The Property Flood Resilience Roundtable to deliver a national suite of training for the property flood resilience industry.
• Partners in the Thames Estuary, Humber Estuary, Severn Valley and Yorkshire to develop long term plans for adapting to future flooding and coastal change and climate hazards.
• The LGA and ADEPT to run workshops to help local authorities attract private sector investment and green finance as a means of improving flood and coastal resilience.
• The Town and Country Planning Association to develop on-line training materials for town planners on flood risk and climate change.

The FCERM Strategy Action Plan will help deliver the strategic objectives set out in the Environment Agency’s FCERM Strategy published in July 2020, as we continue to prepare millions of homes and businesses from the risk of flooding that the climate emergency will bring.

The publication of the Action Plan comes after the Environment Agency announced that it had exceeded its target in delivering the government’s £2.6 billion investment in flood and coastal defence schemes since 2015, better protecting more than 300,000 homes.

The Environment Agency is now working alongside partners to deliver of the government’s record investment of £5.2 billion in flood and coastal defences between 2021 and 2027, which will better protect an additional 336,000 properties as well as avoid £32 billion of wider economic damages.

Click here to view the original Environment Agency press release.