Planning for change

Introduction The potential impacts of climate change have emerged as one of the major environmental challenges in the twenty-Ž rst century. The UK, and many other countries, have already begun to respond by acting to limit greenhouse gas emissions in an attempt to reduce the rate of climate change, but long term, long lasting changes are inevitable, no matter how large these reductions are. The next logical step is to attempt to protect society from possible harmful effects, and this report is a useful Ž rst step to dealing with these impacts on the built environment in the UK. The wide range of impacts discussed highlights the sensitivity and vulnerability of buildings to climate in ways that most people would never have dreamed of. By highlighting these issues the building industry can now begin to understand how climate change might affect buildings, and consider how they should respond.