Climate change is expected to have profound social, political, environmental and economic impacts. Ofcom does not have duties to pursue environmental or climate change policy goals.
Nonetheless, due to our general duties to secure the availability of communications services across the UK, we have an interest in ensuring resilience to climate change. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has asked Ofcom to submit a report on how climate risks are affecting the electronic communications sector and how it is adapting. This will inform the UK’s 4th Climate Change Risk Assessment. Our report focuses on the telecommunications sector, considering adaptation defined by Defra as “actions that protect us against the impacts of climate change…reacting to the changes we have seen already, as well as preparing for what will happen in the future.”
