The Future Fens: Integrated Adaptation Taskforce has unveiled a joint vision for future environmental and social prosperity for the Fens with the release of a ground-breaking shared manifesto and a commitment to join the UN Race to Resilience.

The initiative is a collaboration between sponsor bodies Anglian Water, Water Resources East, the Environment Agency and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority along with more than 40 regional partners. The centrepiece of a major international event in the Blue Zone at COP26, the initiative aims to align multiple agencies and sectors to manage water resources in a better and more joined up way.

Launched at the COP26 event, the Future Fens: Integrated Adaptation Manifesto sets out the ambitions of the Taskforce and is the result of extensive mapping and visioning workshops.

The Manifesto sets out the risks, opportunities and shared commitments of the partners. These aim to bring renewed environmental, social and economic prosperity to a region which faces unique challenges in the face of a warming climate due to its low-lying topography that is prone to the twin threats of drought and flooding.

It also outlines 10 shared outcomes that the partners are committed to integrate into their own future plans by 2023, including:

• An integrated water management solution as the collective vision
• Unlocking sustainable economic growth alongside nature recovery
• Adaptation and resilience to drought and flooding
• Investment bringing much-needed certainty for the future
• The pace of change required for delivery of major infrastructure
• A multi-sector roadmap and convergence of strategies

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority Mayor Dr Nik Johnson, said:

“Fantastic progress is being made by the Future Fens: Integrated Adaptation initative to combat flood management and defend water resources. I am very grateful for Anglian Water and its partners' commitment to promoting a climate resilient environment and facilitating biodiversity improvements, sustainable housing growth and job creation for people in the region.

“Half of the UK's most fertile land for agriculture is in the Fens and it is increasingly threatened by flooding from the sea. Therefore, this water management approach has the potential to benefit not only the Fens but the UK as a whole – and indeed to provide an international blueprint for action. The future of the Fens relies on big ambitions and even bigger actions.”