Climate resilience report says London is ‘underprepared’ for climate change impacts

The London Climate Resilience Review, an independent review commissioned by Mayor of London, has published its interim report. It found that London is underprepared for increasingly extreme weather, although remains hopeful that the opportunity to solve this is still within reach.

Ensuring London’s preparedness for floods, storms, extreme heat and droughts is not only a matter of national security but also an opportunity to create a more equitable society, by enhancing the wellbeing and livelihoods of all London residents.

The 40°C heat experienced in 2022 set records, resulting in the closure of schools, the cancellation of hospital operations due to system crashes, and an unprecedented workload for London Fire Brigade – marking its busiest day since the Second World War.

The key recommendations in the interim report are about governance and strategic planning for London as well as ensuring investment for adaptation is prioritised and delivered.

Wildfires and severe heat are emerging as critical threats, and the report emphasises the need for a proactive approach, shifting the focus from reactive emergency response efforts to comprehensive prevention strategies. In September 2023, Guillermo Rein spoke to Emergency Services Times about the need to increase the pace of change to respond to the growing risk of wildfires in the UK.

Wildfires and severe heat

We are entering a new era as the UK is traditionally more familiar with preparing for cold winters rather than treating hot weather as a hazard and therefore does not have a national heat strategy.

The fire service’s current model of community risk planning may face challenges due to the unpredictability and simultaneous occurrence of climate-related risks. The lack of a national heat strategy in the UK poses a unique challenge, and the report suggests that London could benefit from learning from the heat strategies implemented in many cities worldwide.

As the London Climate Resilience Review identifies gaps in preparedness and recommends strategies for adaptation, it becomes crucial for emergency services to realign their focus toward proactive measures and collaboration.

The unpredictable nature of extreme weather events, as seen in the 2022 heatwave, calls for a more coordinated and preemptive approach to mitigate the impact on critical infrastructure, public health and emergency response capabilities.

In the review, the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy emphasises the need for government-led exercises to plan for major regional extreme weather events, involving local and regional actors, including critical national infrastructure operators. Additionally, the review’s suggestion to prepare for even higher temperatures in the future, such as 45°C, underlines the importance of forward-looking strategies.

The review comes against a backdrop of concerns by the government watchdog, the National Audit Office which published a report in December 2023 looking at the impact on extreme weather the country’s preparedness. It questioned the government’s ability to quantify the amount of money required to plan for the risks of increasing extreme weather.

“Government cannot provide an estimate of how much it spends to manage the risks for droughts, high temperatures and heatwaves, surface water flooding and storms, because action is taken by a wide range of government departments and agencies, and no one collects this information.”

National Audit Office report, Government resilience: extreme weather, published in December 2023.

In a recent announcement, Manchester researchers, backed by a £4.2m grant from UK Research and Innovation, are leading the SALIENT (Secure And ResiLIENT) project confirmed work to address the UK’s pressing resilience and security challenges.

The project focuses on robust supply chains, global order, security technologies, behavioural resilience, and natural and built environment resilience. Over a five-year period, SALIENT aims to enhance security in virtual and physical environments, inform decision-making, and foster positive change.

The interim report can be found here and the final review will be published later this year.

Photo credit: Alisdare Hickson