A climate adaptation framework for NHS organisations in England

This resource has been developed to support NHS organisations to adapt to climate change.

Drawing from a model developed for the public sector in Scotland, this Framework provides a holistic approach to organisational change, for any NHS organisation to prepare for and respond to the impacts of climate change.

What is climate adaptation?

Climate adaptation is any action to reduce vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, such as extreme weather events like floods and heatwaves.

Additional information and guidance can be found on WeAdapt.

How to use this framework

Climate adaptation is not only about analysing climate data and risk models.

Effective leadership, governance arrangements, inclusive planning approaches and collaboration across teams and services are all key to successful adaptation.

This Framework is based on the principle that an organisation has adaptation ‘capability’ that determines its ability to respond to the impacts of climate change.

The Framework is split into 4 capabilities that every NHS organisation will need to adapt and become resilient to climate change, providing step by step tasks to guide the adaptation journey.