Climate change report warns of 'perfect storm'

WALES is “dangerously” at risk from the effects of climate change unless people work together to combat it, it is claimed.

- DAVID POWELL

> Waves crash against the harbour wall at Porthcawl during Storm Ciaranagh in December 2024

(Beni Birchall/PA)

The need to cut emissions is widely accepted but more needs to be done to repair ageing infrastructure, for example.

The claims come in a report by the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales (NICW). Its authors visited Fairbourne in Gwynedd - one of the communities most at risk from worsening weather.

The NICW report - called Perfect Storm - asked whether Wales is doing enough to coordinate action and engage communities in adapting our infrastructure to a changing climate.

But the NICW found that without “urgent action” to prepare for the worsening impacts of climate change “Wales risks being left dangerously exposed - with yet more devastating floods, record-breaking heatwaves and coastal erosion in decades to come”.

NICW added: “While there is strong political focus on cutting emissions, there is far less emphasis on factors like ageing infrastructure, inconsistent planning, short-term funding cycles and weak coordination - leaving Welsh communities and critical services at risk.”