But the committee’s strongest words are for the threat of extreme heat, which it says is the greatest health risk from climate change facing the UK.
More than 90% of existing homes could overheat during more extreme heatwaves, the committee warned.
The CCC wants the government to introduce maximum temperature rules for workplaces to help protect workers’ health.
“It’s a very sensible thing to do because we know that productivity drops very significantly when the weather gets very hot and we know that people become more prone to making mistakes and to having accidents,” said Baroness Brown.
The committee hopes that such a rule would incentivise businesses to deploy technologies to keep workplaces cool, such as air conditioning, heat pumps – some of which can cool as well as heat – and green shading.
The CCC does not suggest a maximum temperature but points to the example of Spain, where the maximum legal working temperature indoors is 27C for sedentary work and 25C for light physical work.
Baroness Brown also repeated her suggestion of changing the school year so that children would not have to sit exams during the height of summer.
