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New guidance that will help make Wales much more resilient to climate change has been published yesterday.

The Welsh Government has launched the first two parts of ‘Preparing for a changing climate', guidance which aims to help Welsh organisations adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The guidance will assist organisations such as local authorities, the Environment Agency, Dwr Cymru, the Fire Service and NHS Trusts in assessing how climate change impacts could affect their operations, and will help them prepare plans to manage the risks.

Speaking about the new guidance, Environment Minister, John Griffiths said:

“Our Climate Change Strategy, which was launched a year ago, highlights that the Welsh approach to tackling climate change will focus not only on reducing carbon emissions but also on helping the country adapt to the affects of a changing climate.

“UK Climate Projections in 2009 showed that Wales can expect hotter, drier summers, milder, wetter winters and more extreme weather like heat-waves, droughts and storms.

“These changes will really affect the way we live our lives, run our businesses and deliver our public services.

“The Welsh Government is committed to leading on this issue but Government action alone will not be enough.  People, communities and organisations across Wales will need to take responsibility for building resilience and preparing Wales for the changes ahead.

“The guidance that we are publishing today and the associated knowledge transfer programme that we are taking forward will help ensure that Wales is well prepared to manage to the impacts of a changing climate.  It marks an important step forward in the delivery of the commitments set out in our Climate Change Strategy”

Earlier this year, the Welsh Government consulted on how it might best guide and direct organisations to prepare for the impacts of climate change.

The consultation found that there was consensus on which organisations should be identified as key and that there was strong support for the proposed phased-approach to adaptation assessment and planning.

The Welsh Government has developed guidance that sets out a five part approach to developing a planned response to climate change.

The first two sections of the guidance, which focus on understanding adaptation and investigating the potential issues, will be followed in early 2012 by three further sections focussed on planning, implementation, monitoring and review.

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