Building a resilient nation

The Climate Resilience Podcast

The Climate Resilience Podcast
Building a resilient nation
Mar 19, 2026 Season 1 Episode 25
Phil Emonson

In this episode, Phil sits down with David Porter, President of the Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE), to discuss some of the challenges we face in building a resilient nation. 

David has worked to address our changing climate in various ways throughout the course of his career. As Chief Executive for the Rivers Agency, Northern Ireland, he was involved in developing policies to communicate the impacts of climate change. More recently,  in his role as Director of Engineering, Department for Infrastructure, Northern Ireland, he has been involved with climate change legislation for Northern Ireland, in particular, developing a sectoral plan for infrastructure. 

Tune in as Phil and David discuss:

  • How do we communicate the value of infrastructure? In particular, the challenges we face in maintaining our existing assets.
  • The ICE's 2026 State of the Nation report and the three key areas for improvement needed if the government is to deliver on its ambitious 10-year UK Infrastructure Strategy - supply chain and productivity, innovation and collaboration.
  • Capability and capacity - what skills are needed for the future?

Thank you for listening to this episode. 

For any comments, questions or insights please contact phil.emonson@jbaconsulting.com.

Visit our website jbaconsulting.com
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Episode Artwork Building a resilient nation 27:49 Episode Artwork The Climate Resilience Podcast revisited - Highlights from 2025 38:13 Episode Artwork Scaling urban resilience: Reflections on the Resilient Cities Forum 33:27 Episode Artwork Anthropy: Inspiring a better Britain 33:34 Episode Artwork Managing climate extremes in the energy and infrastructure sectors 33:03 Episode Artwork We Are Resilience with Sophie Kirtley 26:28 Episode Artwork Innovation for a resilient future 26:08 Episode Artwork 1st Birthday Special: Continuing the conversation on whole society and social value 35:31 Episode Artwork JBA at 30: Resilient Organisations 35:39 Episode Artwork Special episode: Hurricane Katrina at 20 30:06 Episode Artwork Nature-based solutions: Creating resilient places and landscapes 34:02 Episode Artwork Farming on the edge: Climate, crisis & collective resilience with Guy Singh-Watson 24:17 Episode Artwork Who’s responsible for resilience? And how do we share the load? 29:13 Episode Artwork Bonus episode: Reflections on Flood and Coast 17:34 Episode Artwork A Flood & Coast Conference special episode 17:12 Episode Artwork The role of assets in building resilience to climate change 31:07 Episode Artwork Whole society resilience: A deep dive 29:53 Episode Artwork Shaping sustainable and resilient communities through planning and development 28:38 Episode Artwork The role of social value in building whole-society resilience to climate change 31:31 Episode Artwork In conversation with Elizabeth Rapoport 35:40 Episode Artwork Ensuring resilience in a low carbon future 27:45 Episode Artwork Recovery: A deep dive 27:21 Episode Artwork Resilience and adaptation as CIWEM presidential themes 30:10 Episode Artwork Embedding resilience through effective change management 29:02 Episode Artwork What is resilience to climate change? 28:44