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Local Climate Adaptation Tool (LCAT) for Evidence-Based Decision Support

Solution Overview

The Local Climate Adaptation Tool (LCAT) is a UK-based national evidence-based resource designed to support local decision-makers, including public sector institutions, to take climate adaptation action.[1] This digital platform brings together complex climate models, adaptation options and community and health impact evidence to help users understand the health implications of climate change in their local area.[3] The tool has been co-designed with over 50 local authority areas and provides data and evidence to help local areas understand the current and future climate, likely risks and impacts and adaptations needed.[1]

Technical Components

This online tool integrates multiple technical components to deliver comprehensive climate adaptation support. The system brings together complex climate models, adaptation options and health impact evidence all in one place.[11] LCAT was created through undertaking evidence reviews, beginning with the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment and the IPCC 2023 reports, followed by additional literature searches focusing on health and wellbeing impacts.[5] Using the third UK Climate Change Risk Assessment 2022 (CCRA3) as its starting point, and in consultation with stakeholders, the key risk areas for inclusion in LCAT have been identified as: heat, flooding and drought, extreme storms, coastal security and ocean system changes, and personal security, such as food or energy supply.[2] The platform pulls together the best available data to provide local climate forecasts and provides the evidence in layers – giving summary overviews and then increasingly more detailed insights to meet the needs of different users.[10] LCAT uses Climate Just tool to report vulnerability data.[12] The tool provides information and datasets on vulnerable groups using insight and data from Climate Just to support decision makers to identify who is vulnerable and take a more equitable approach to planning adaptations.[3] As a new addition in 2025, the tool also includes Deprivation Data for local areas.[3] The system has been created through accessing data from open-source repositories to ensure LCAT remains free.[5] The tool identifies key, published evidence on health and well-being outcomes to support the recommendations and advice it will generate.[2]

Implementation Details

The Local Climate Adaptation Tool has been co-developed by the University of Exeter and Cornwall Council.[11] The LCAT project team initially spent a year exploring how local stakeholders were adapting to climate change, how they were working with other agencies to make decisions, and what the barriers were to action.[7] An initial year was spent exploring how key stakeholders were adapting to climate change, what the barriers were to action and finding a common language that would allow decision making across traditional boundaries.[3] Stakeholders felt they had limited access to guidance, information and support, and identified a need to be able to access future climate models, which led to the creation of the Local Climate Adaptation Tool.[7] During the second phase, LCAT developers worked with over 100 professionals, representing around 50 local areas across the UK running co-design workshops and 'teach-in' sessions with keynote speakers.[3] Through a co-design process, the team developed a decision-making support tool that responds to local needs and challenges, as identified by stakeholders, working with local service providers across the UK.[7] The prototype was developed for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, and it is now being further developed across the country.[7] In 2022 the Local Climate Adaptation Tool team received funding via Research England (Policy Support Fund) and the Schroder Foundation to develop the tool further to include climate data for most of Scotland, Wales and England, more climate impacts focused on increasing heat, adaptation suggestions, and a new section highlighting local vulnerabilities.[4] LCAT has secured support from multiple funders including the Local Government Association's Net Zero Programme, the Turing Institute, The Schroeder Foundation and through BlueAdapt, a Horizon Europe project.[9] The project is currently co-funded to 2026 through BlueAdapt, which has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme.[5] The Local Climate Adaptation Tool was developed through collaboration between Then Try This, the European Centre for Environment and Human Health at the University of Exeter, Cornwall Council, the NHS and emergency services.[4] As of February 2023, the prototype health impact maps explored heat (and cold) as well as tested the methodology that was being used for the mapping, with the other risks to be added by mid-2023.[2] Updated iterations, with more data, content and evidence were published, using the UK's Third Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA3) as the evidence starting point.[3] The full tool launched in February 2024.[3] LCAT launched in February 2024 and has regular updates.[11] Over the coming two years the project plans to update and develop LCAT further and run an evaluation, including the development of downloadable data/reports, bringing more data into the tool to provide more localised outputs, highlighting co-benefits, and enhancing the case study offer.[5]

Benefits and Impacts

The tool is free and open source, and is aimed at helping councils, the NHS and emergency services as well as local service providers to understand what is likely to happen and prioritise their climate adaptation approaches.[3] Users can select a local area of interest and see the predicted climate over the coming decades, alongside evidence on the health impacts of climate change from the scientific literature.[2] The platform allows users to explore local climate models, enables them to see how climate change will impact the health and wellbeing of people in their area, and makes recommendations for actions based on the best available current evidence.[7] LCAT generates recommendations for appropriate adaptation approaches to support the health and wellbeing of local people, based on the best available peer-reviewed evidence.[11] The system provides information on how local climates will change, what the likely hazards are, what health and community impacts may occur, who will be most vulnerable and why, and which adaptations to consider.[5] LCAT makes recommendations about the types of adaptation that should be considered, with the ultimate goal of supporting a multi-agency approach to building resilient and healthy communities.[12] The tool supports multi-agency professionals in proactively planning mitigation for local climate change impacts, with a joined-up approach at the centre of LCAT.[7] As well as highlighting impacts across sectors, it uses health as a lens to highlight the health impacts on communities.[5] The LCAT team released a new guide called Introduction to Climate Adaptation, co-created with Oxfordshire County Council and UK wide decision-makers, to help overcome a lack of knowledge and skills as a key barrier to action.[6] The tool includes an accompanying learning resource called 'Introduction to Local Climate Adaptation' to provide learning opportunities to build skills and knowledge.[3] LCAT provides an evidence-based list of adaptation options offering local areas the guidance they need on planning for adaptation in their areas.[3] The tool was showcased at COP26 in Glasgow, winning Highly Commended in the Climate Challenge Cup.[3] In July 2024, it was awarded Sustainability of the Year Initiative at the Socitm awards.[3] The University of Exeter's Local Climate Adaptation Tool won the Sustainability Initiative of the Year award at the 2024 Socitm Awards.[13]

Climate Adaptation Relevance

LCAT has been designed to help local organisations increase their adaptation response to local climate change, something a recent government report describes as having 'failed to keep pace with the worsening reality of climate risk.'[10] With little adaptation action happening across the UK, LCAT provides support to local decision-makers in their work to build healthy and resilient communities.[13] Manchester Climate Change Agency is working with the University of Exeter on a Local Climate Adaptation Tool (LCAT) that is intended to recommend adaptation action that will support improvements in health and wellbeing.[14]

Business Analysis

The tool is free and open source.[11] The Local Climate Adaptation Tool is free and open source as always.[4] LCAT has been co-developed with, and for, local authorities and local service providers.[3] The system was designed with, and created for, local UK decision-makers.[1] LCAT was co-designed with local decision-makers across the four nations of the UK to create a simple online tool that brings together data and advice to understand how local climates will change, what the climate impacts might be for communities, and what action to take.[6] The outputs from DyME-CHH will feed directly into The Local Climate Adaptation Tool (LCAT) that supports evidence-based adaptation by local authorities and public bodies.[8] LCAT has since been developed to be used across local authority areas throughout the UK to support climate change adaptation action.[11] The Local Climate Adaptation Tool has been developed by a team from the University of Exeter and Cornwall Council, with input from more than 50 other local authority areas across the UK.[10]

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