Climate Risk and Adaptation Data and Intelligence

Summary of climate impacts facing the West Midlands

In 2022 we kickstarted this work by publishing a Summary of Climate Change Impacts in the WMCA Area, a high-level summary of the climate change scenarios, likely impacts and risks across our constituent areas.

Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessments (CRVAs)

Since October 2023 the WMCA have been working with researchers at the University of Birmingham to develop two region-wide Climate Risk & Vulnerability Assessment (CRVA) mapping tools. A CRVA map identifies where climate risks across the region might be concentrated.

A socio-economic CRVA has now been published at lower super output area (LSOA) on the West Midlands Environment and Net Zero Dashboard. This CRVA is based on three factors: climate hazards (like high temperatures and flood risk), socio-economic vulnerability (like income, health and demographics) and exposure (like population density). The infographic illustrates how these factors are brought together to give an overall picture of climate risk and vulnerability across the region.

Click here to view the methodology used to develop our West Midlands CRVA.

A transport-focused CRVA is being developed by Transport for West Midlands, the University of Birmingham and transport sector partners. The infographic illustrates the process being used to develop this tool.

The Economic Impacts of Climate Change

In 2024 the WMCA published an Economic Impact Assessment of Climate Change on the West Midlands economy.

This study has made use of the limited available data to quantify impact of future warming scenarios in financial (£s) and economic (GDP/GVA) terms. The report also presents the costs the impacts of three historic severe weather events based on evidence provided by regional partners. The comprehensive technical report is available upon request.