Delivering on Climate Change Action and Heritage

Published 29 October 2021

Updated 26 March 2024

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. We must reduce greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming and avoid the worst impacts. We must also adapt to the current and future impacts as the climate continues to change over the coming decades. The historic environment has a significant role to play. On this page you can find out more about our climate change response, advice and guidance for owners and professionals, and our research.

Our Climate Change Response

Historic England firmly supports urgent climate action and has a broad programme of work to help manage this change. Our Corporate Plan sets out our Climate Action priorities and the activities we will carry out to deliver them.

Our Climate Change Strategy (March 2022)
Our Climate Change Strategy presents our response to the climate change crisis.
Our Carbon Reduction Plan
Our Carbon Reduction Plan details our commitment to transition to Net Zero for our own operations by 2040.
Climate Change Adaptation Report 2022
Our Climate Change Adaptation Report explains the work we have done previously in response to the risks to heritage from climate change.

Advice and guidance

Our Your Home pages provide practical advice to homeowners and occupiers on maintaining, repairing and improving historic buildings to increase energy efficiency and resilience to flooding.

Heritage organisations or businesses using historic buildings can find out how to move towards net zero carbon emissions.

Our Technical Guidance, including our Technical Tuesday webinars, provides advice on looking after historic buildings and sites, including climate change adaptation, retrofit and energy efficiency advice.

Our Planning advice helps professionals and owners of historic buildings to understand how change is managed through the planning system, including the delivery of climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Consultation on New Advice on Climate Change and Historic Building Adaptation
New advice will support consistent decision making on how historic buildings can be adapted to tackle climate change and improve energy efficiency.
Energy Efficiency and Your Home
Find out how to cut your fuel bills and carbon footprint in ways that are sympathetic to the historic character of your building.
Energy Efficiency and Traditional Homes
Energy efficiency improvements to those traditional homes which are described as heritage assets within the planning system.
Retrofit and Energy Efficiency in Historic Buildings
A suite of technical advice and guidance on improving the energy efficiency of traditional buildings.
Delivering Net Zero for England’s Historic Buildings: Local Data on the Demand for Retrofitting Skills and Economic Growth
An interactive map and dashboard of local data on the estimated need for retrofitting skills to deliver Net Zero for England’s historic buildings.
Overheating
This page looks at overheating in historic buildings and how to mitigate its impacts by keeping buildings cool and providing adequate ventilation.
Flooding and Historic Buildings
Many historic buildings are at risk of flooding from rivers, the sea, and surface/ground water. See our advice on preparing for and responding to flooding.
Helping Your Organisation Towards Net Zero
Guidance on how to get to net zero for heritage organisations or businesses using historic buildings.

Research

Our research helps us to build and develop a strong evidence base to better understand the risks and impacts of climate change, to develop the appropriate responses to ensure heritage is protected for future generations, to demonstrate the positive role heritage can play in addressing the climate crisis, and the skills and resources needed.

Heritage and Carbon: Addressing the Skills Gap
Retrofitting the UK’s historic buildings could generate £35bn of economic output a year while creating new construction jobs and supporting the country’s net zero ambitions.
Climate Change Research: Impacts, Issues and Responses
We’re researching the direct and indirect impacts of climate change, the effects on the historic environment and how we can respond.
Coastal Risk and Priority Places Report
This project centred on the creation of an interactive map resource that displays heritage assets sensitive to coastal change.
Heat Pumps in Historic Buildings
Ten case studies reviewing the performance of air source heat pump (ASHP) technology in homes, offices, shops and two small churches across England.
Carbon in the Built Historic Environment
The Heritage Counts 2019 report on the role of pre-1919 traditional buildings in a low carbon future.

Delivering on Climate Change Action and Heritage

Our Climate Change Response

Advice and guidance

Research

Key External Links

Also of interest