Climate Change Committee’s Citizens’ Panel on public visions for climate adaptation

The Climate Change Committee (CCC) convened a deliberative Citizens’ Panel to inform independent assessment for the UK Government and Devolved Administrations as part of the Fourth Climate Change Risk Assessment. This focused on the impacts the UK faces from the changing climate and the steps that can be taken to address and limit these impacts.

As climate change intensifies, extreme weather events become more frequent and severe across the UK. A range of measures will need to be applied to the natural environment, buildings, transport and energy infrastructure to better enable them to prepare, absorb and recover from impacts caused by extreme weather such as heatwaves and flooding. These measures might include infrastructure upgrades to improve flood defence and drainage systems, planting trees to help keep streets cooler, upgrading homes to enable temperature control during heatwaves, and initiatives to enhance community awareness and readiness in times of emergency. 

In January 2025, the CCC and Sciencewise commissioned Ipsos UK to deliver the Citizens’ Panel, which brought together 30 participants who were broadly reflective of the UK. Workshops took place between September and October 2025, exploring two key questions:

• Which impacts of climate change are you most concerned about?
• What do you think should be done to adapt to these impacts?

Participants considered how climate risks are experienced differently by different communities, and engaged with evidence on the effectiveness, costs, and trade-offs of different adaptation options.

Watch the Citizens’ Panel film to hear directly from participants about their experiences and perspectives.

The findings from the Citizens’ Panel directly informed the CCC’s May 2026 report to Parliament, A Well-Adapted UK, which provides advice to the UK Government and Devolved Administrations on climate risk and adaptation priorities.

On the 2nd June 2026, we held a public launch webinar to share the findings and reflect on their implications. A full recording from the webinar will be made available on this page soon.