Climate change and energy

Bluebells in a wood, but the countryside could look very different with climate change. Photo: FreeDigitalPhotos

Climate change: a threat to the countryside
Climate change, caused by increasing greenhouse gas emissions, is the greatest threat to the future of the English countryside. Unless we take strong action to tackle climate change now, it is likely, within a few decades, to alter many of our most cherished landscapes forever.

Some of the tell-tale signs of climate change are wetter winters, more storms, high winds and shifting seasons. These changes are already affecting farming and rural communities in England. As sea levels rise, very dramatic changes are likely which will affect the extent of our land area, especially in the East of England, with the loss of fens, beaches and entire villages.

A low-carbon development, Elmswell, Suffolk. Photo: © RHM Architects / Nick Kane

Our high-carbon economy, based on roads and airport expansion, and energy-wasting new buildings, needs to make way for the kind of low-carbon, carefully planned development which we have long championed.

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