Call for major infrastructure change

An alliance of almost half a million engineers has called for a radical rethink of the way that UK infrastructure is planned, developed and protected in a new report Infrastructure, Engineering and Climate Change Adaptation: Ensuring services in an uncertain future. The report calls for a centralised process of decision making in Government, and a new approach to sharing information in the commercial sector.

The report was written for DEFRA and prepared from the perspective of the engineering profession. The Engineering the Future group - of which IChemE is a member - has presented the report to Government.

It examines vulnerabilities in energy, transport, communications and water systems and identifies those that affect the infrastructure system as a whole. 'Cascade failure', where failures in one area have a domino effect on others such an loss of power due to floods leading to loss of transport and communications systems - cause major disruption, frustration and have significant economic impact. The report identifies ways to prevent, and prepare for such events.