Written question asked by Peter Ainsworth (Conservative) on Wednesday, 3 December 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 8 December 2008. It was answered by Lord Beamish (Labour) on Thursday, 18 December 2008 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Climate Change

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment his Department has made of its capacity to adapt to climate change; and what plans he has to publish a climate change adaptation strategy.

Answer: The cross-Government Adapting to Climate Change Programme increases Government's capacity to adapt by ensuring a co-ordinated approach across all Departments and the public sector. This includes implementation of the adaptation aspects of the Climate Change Act, such as development of the national climate risk assessment. Information about the Programme can be found at:"www.defra.gov/adaptation"The Ministry of Defence Climate Change Strategy has been endorsed by Secretary of State for Defence and will be published in the coming weeks. I will arrange to have copies placed in the Library of the House. The Strategy sets high-level targets for the mitigation and adaptation activities that the MOD will take in order to reduce our impact on climate change as well as the impact of climate change on our outputs.

Secondary information