Date published: 2026-07-01 | Category: Tackling the climate and ecological emergency
Bath & North East Somerset Council is stepping up action to prepare its services for the growing impacts of climate change and help prevent impacts on communities.
Recent periods of extreme heat and storms have reinforced the urgency to act faster and strengthen resilience with extreme weather no longer rare.
A Climate Resilient Council Update report will be scrutinised by councillors next week. In it the report says a corporate climate risk assessment has been completed, involving more than 70 staff across council services. This has identified key risks and set out the action needed to better protect services and communities.
Three immediate priorities are now under way:
o Embedding climate resilience into decision-making
o Monitoring climate impacts on services and costs
o Creating climate-resilient workplaces
The report says that without further action, the council faces rising risks, higher costs and more disruption for residents. Climate change will affect every service, from care and education to infrastructure and emergency response. The impacts will fall hardest on vulnerable residents, risking widening inequalities.
Practical changes are already under way with frontline teams, including waste crews and care staff, to adapt workplaces and practices based on their day-to-day experiences of working in more extreme weather. However, the assessment found that while some services are already adapting, this is often small‑scale and reactive. Stronger coordination, investment and long-term planning will be needed to keep pace with the scale of the challenge.
The report says there is also a clear financial case for acting early. Investing in climate resilience can reduce future costs and help protect services, while supporting wider priorities such as improving health and reducing demand on services.
Council steps will link with national guidance and feed into the council’s new Climate & Nature Strategy, due later this year. Further proposals and investment plans will be developed over the next 12 to 18 months.
Councillor Sarah Warren, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Sustainable Bath and North East Somerset, said: “Climate change is already affecting our services and communities, and the impacts are becoming more frequent and more severe.
“We need to act now to make sure our services are resilient, protect vulnerable residents and avoid higher costs in the future.
“We’re taking practical steps to build that resilience, but we know we need to go further and faster.
“Cutting emissions remains essential, but we must also prepare for the impacts that are already happening. Acting early means we can reduce risks and protect residents.”
The report before Climate Emergency and Sustainability Policy Development & Scrutiny Panel on July 9 can be found on the council’s website or you can watch the meeting on our Youtube channel.