London Climate Resilience Review
Review commissioned by the London Mayor helps chart a path forward on climate adaptation, yet issues a stark warning.
In mid-2023, London Mayor Sadiq Khan commissioned an independent review to take stock of the city’s preparedness for extreme climatic events and provide a series of recommendations for improving its resilience. Published just last month, the London Climate Resilience Review’s interim report delved into the key climate-related challenges facing Londoners and outlined a series of measures for policymakers to consider, with the full report to be released later in the year.
If you are a Londoner, the need for such a review should be obvious; referencing the flooding of July 2021 and the record-breaking heatwaves of the year after, the review’s authors were keen to stress that this is in recognition of the accelerating climate impacts both in the UK and across the world. Furthermore, they noted that, whilst policymakers and governments should be striving towards net zero as their north star objectives, adapting to and building resilience against a more extreme climate is essential, particularly amongst regional administrations, in the absence of leadership in climate at the national level.
Chaired by Emma Howard Boyd CBE, the former Chair of the Environment Agency, the review was developed in consultation with a breadth of institutions and community organisations across London (including Shade the UK). This ranged from London anchor institutions, including the NHS, Transport for London (TfL), and the London Fire Brigade, to decision-making bodies such as the Greater London Authority (GLA), London Borough Councils, and the UK Government itself. The unions, cultural institutions, NGOs and the charity sector, and private business were also consulted. This was with a view to determine the needs of the city’s residents more holistically and generate climate-adaptive recommendations that take into account all stakeholders involved in long-term planning.
We at STUK feel privileged to have been consulted by the authors on the review, allowing us to lend our voice, and the voice of those most vulnerable to heat-related stress, to help shape government policy.
Key findings of the interim report
The report issued a series of key findings based on its city-wide consultation, assessed through the lens of the individual threats that a warming climate presents to metropolitan areas like London - heat, drought, rising sea levels, flooding, wildfires, and subsidence - whilst also providing a summary of findings across each of these areas.
Perhaps the overarching conclusion made by the report is how the world is estimated to be on track to warm by 2.5-2.9°C above pre-industrial levels, but Europe is warming faster than any other continent, making London underprepared for the change in climate. The report notes that climate change now presents a lethal risk to communities across London, with many communities more vulnerable to this change than others, including low-income households, minority communities, the elderly, and youth groups.
These issues around climate preparedness are themselves compounded by both a lack of urgency and strategic vision at the national level, placing the burden for effecting change to more local and regional governments. Referencing the third National Adaptation Plan (NAP3) released last year, the authors stated that governmental plans are “inexcusably lacking in ambition” given the events of recent years, an issue highlighted by STUK following its publication. Furthermore, this lack of leadership is also likely to impede efforts by more regional actors in delivering the change that we need.
“In the absence of national leadership, regional government has a more significant role to play. We need pace not perfection. It’s time for the UK, led by its cities and regions, to take action and prioritise adaptation,” said the review’s chair in a subsequent statement, highlighting the need for action from across stakeholder groups.
The report also wanted to champion the activity that is already taking place at all levels of planning across the city, which is making strides in guaranteeing a more sustainable future. However, a ‘step change’ is needed in our planning efforts to bring about this change and regional leaders need not wait for a national strategy before committing to climate-adaptive policies.
Recommendations of the report
Whilst the 20 recommendations provided in the report are detailed, they can be summarised in 3 key areas for improvement.
First, the authors call for a greater level of regional leadership, led by the London Mayor. As stated above, the national leadership on climate is lacking. One of the key issues highlighted is how the vision laid out in NAP3 made no mention of key strategic goals; how can we measure the level of preparedness the country needs to be robust against a warming climate? What key outcomes do we need to work towards to guarantee resilient cities?
Referencing the National Audit Office (NAO) response to the UK government’s Resilience Framework, the authors quoted “the framework does not set out a well-defined vision for what a resilient UK looks like, including targets and standards for the desired level of national, local or sectoral resilience”. With this in mind, the report recommends defining a minimum global temperature rise that London organisations should plan for and set individual “thresholds for action” to work towards. In particular, the report specifies that their concluding vision for a well-adapted London focused on human safety and the wellbeing of its residents, limiting the economic impacts of a warmer climate and capitalising on green opportunities in business.
Examples given for this kind of top-down approach include updating planning regulations, namely updating the Decent Homes Standard and Future Homes Standard to set out new measures to ensure climate resilience in the built environment. This includes measures to retrofit existing buildings and mandate that all new developments can manage excess heat and improve water efficiency, flood resilience, and biodiversity. They note that the UK government is currently consulting on the Future Homes Standard and Buildings Regulations (Part O) in relation to heat.
Second, a collaborative approach to planning, with local authorities, business groups, and other stakeholders is key to promoting sustainable change. Again, with the paucity in leadership at the national level, regional groups need to facilitate programmes at the local level to develop and deliver climate action plans.
One recommendation they suggested was for the Mayor’s office to develop and fund an ‘accelerator programme’ to provide direct support for new initiatives, working across organisations to build adaptive capacity, based on community engagement and local action. It referenced the Climate Resilience Schools Programme as a good model for a more place-based approach to adaptation. Here at STUK, we have started to promote measures in educational spaces that will support this kind of adaptation.
Finally, the report recognised the need for fully assessing the risks involved in both acute periods of extreme weather and more long-term effects. One recommendation they provided to the London Resilience Partnership was to “conduct an exercise to test London’s preparedness for a severe heat episode and identify potential cascading and concurrent risks”, much like the 2023 simulation run by the Parisian government to assess a hypothetical 10-day 50°C heatwave across the city. This would be to both to determine the effects of multiple failures in infrastructure and clarify roles and responsibilities to respond to such events.
Shade the UK’s perspective
We at STUK are very grateful to the authors of this review for their bold recommendations on how the city of London can adapt to face the growing threats presented by the climate emergency. Through the recognition that new leadership is required to tackle these issues, we believe that local and regional groups can use this review as a template with which to chart a path forward in the fight against climate change and the worst of its effects.
However, we believe that there are a few key areas that need further consideration, in order to future proof the plans laid out. These include:
Promoting research into the long-term effects of climate change on London’s population, taking a more holistic view into how higher ambient temperatures can adversely impact our populations. Recognising that the health risks associated with warmer temperatures not only pose a threat to vulnerable people during acutely high periods but how sustained increases can lead to health deterioration. We believe these risks need to both be quantified and have measures put in place to help deal with them in future. This will require further consultation with organisations such as the NHS, private health groups, the charitable sector, and researchers to fully understand the depth of the issue.
Prioritising those communities most at risk of heat and climate-related health issues. Whilst we fully support measures such as updating the Decent Homes Standard to align with our climate adaptation goals, we believe a tiered approach to optimising the built environment is needed to prioritise those most at risk. This would include retrofitting care homes, hospitals, educational spaces, and community centres first, freeing up funds to make these spaces more heat resistant as an immediate priority.
Funding research to understand the impacts of concurrent extremes in weather. Whilst the report breaks down their analysis according to the type of event under scrutiny - heatwaves, drought, and flooding, amongst others - little has been said of the effects of combined events. For example, recent research has shown that the incidence of Compound Drought and Heat Events (CDHEs) is likely to rise markedly in the coming decades, with strong associated socio-economic implications. These more complex and nuanced weather events need to be assessed in greater depth.
We would like to thank the London Climate Resilience Review team for their time in consulting with STUK on their latest report. We believe that their work marks a turning point in regional policy making and can serve as a template around the world for what effective climate adaptation looks like. We hope to continue work such as this to ensure the voices of the most vulnerable are heard and guarantee zero heat-related deaths in the coming years.
Written by Oliver Longstaff
