2023 was the first ever year where we saw global temperatures rise 1.5 Celsius, the limit that was set in the 2015 Paris Agreement.  It is predicted that if this temperature rise is sustained that the impacts upon humanity will be ‘calamitous’.   We are already familiar with more frequent and hotter heatwaves, and the flooding we are all familiar with now happens much more often.  There are however ways we can build to address this and it is estimated that using Nature based Solutions alone can address at least 30% of our climate adaptation needs.

This climate change impact event will look beyond the statistics and graphs and provide an insight into how climate change may impact upon our lives and how we need to change the way we build to become more resilient.

Speakers:

Bethany Haskins-Vaheesan – Climate Adaptation Project Officer (West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA)) – The WMCA is ahead of the curve nationally with its approach to assessing how the region will be impacted by climate change, a key first step to defining how we address this key challenge.

Bob Bray (Robert Bray Associates) Bob is well respected as a pioneer of Creative Rainwater Management – also known as Sustainable Drainage Systems or SuDS- he has been at the forefront of many innovative manuals and guidelines and he will talk about how SuDS can help us address some of the climate challenges we face whilst delivering many other positive outcomes.