DD2714 Pathways2Resilience funding

1.1.    June 2024 marked 12 months of global temperatures at 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.  Globally it was the warmest June on record.  A warming climate is already having impacts in London. We are seeing more surface water flooding, higher temperatures and extreme heat. Climate change will continue to have direct implications for how we shape our work and deliver for Londoners. 

1.2.    Due to increasing extreme weather events in London, in June 2023, the Mayor of London commissioned the independent London Climate Resilience Review . The final report was published in July 2024.  The Review takes stock of London’s preparations for climate change and make 50 recommendations to help London adapt. The recommendations are aimed not just at the Mayor, but national government, local authorities and other organisations such as anchor institutions and the NHS. 
1.3.    The Review proposes a shared regional vision for adaptation. Currently, there is no national vision for a well-adapted UK, and no targets or goals for local authorities, organisations or others to follow. Recommendation 1 urges that the Mayor of London to “lead collaborative work with local authorities, the private sector and others to set out a clear strategic vision for what it means for London to be adapting well to climate impacts by 2030 and beyond.” Recommendation 2 urges the Mayor to “work collaboratively to develop an adaptation delivery plan to support London’s strategic vision and lead an exercise to map roles and responsibilities. “ These key recommendations from the Review align well with the EU’s Pathways2Resilience objectives and outcomes which are outlined in section 2. 
1.4.    The GLA (via its Environment and Energy Unit), with London Councils, has applied for and been awarded €210,000 (approximately £178,000) of funding from the European Union’s Pathways2Resilience (P2R) programme. This programme will guide up to 40 European regions through different steps of the P2R Regional Resilience Journey (RRJ), with supporting services and capacity building activities lasting 18 months (from September 2024).
1.5.    This Director Decision form (DD) is seeking approval for the GLA to receive the funding from the P2R programme. A forthcoming Mayoral Decision Form (MD) will outline how the money is intended to be spent as part of the wider “Delivering a Greener, More Resilient London” mandate and associated delivery plan. 

2.1.    There are four main workstreams in the Pathways2Reslience programme, which are outlined below.  
Baseline report
2.2.    This first phase is about reviewing available knowledge of climate impacts and existing political commitments, regional policy, plans and strategies currently in place to address them; understanding who are the actors and stakeholders relevant in the climate adaptation context and their roles, vulnerabilities and capabilities; understanding the socio-economic context and dynamics, what are key resources available, important relationships and how they influence current developments, and providing evidence for a reflection about regional priorities and opportunities for sustainable and climate resilient development.
2.3.    London already holds a substantial amount of data and information on the above, including climate risks and vulnerabilities, yet it is often fragmented. Consolidating data from key stakeholders, including the city's 33 local authorities, will provide insights into regional priorities and opportunities for coordinated action to enhance climate resilience. We plan to harness the London Office of Technology and Innovation (LOTI) to share data on climate risks and adaptation actions to support decision making.
2.4.    One of the Resilience Review’s recommendations is to look at the cost of inaction of climate adaptation. Therefore, as part of the P2R programme we are planning to commission a review of the economics of climate change in London which sets out the costs of climate events over the last decade and projections on the cost of future climate risks and how those costs are distributed across groups to support a just transition. As the costs of climate impacts increase in London, clear analysis of costs and benefits would support local organisations to make climate ready decisions and investments.
Building a shared vision
2.5.    A critical step of the journey to climate resilience is co-developing a shared vision with stakeholders which should have climate justice at its heart. Stakeholders across London have asked for coordination and clarity to ensure that effective adaptation and climate resilience is delivered. Meaningful and active engagement of relevant actors in building a shared vision is key to creating ownership of and commitment to the vision. As part of the P2R programme, the GLA and London Councils will lead collaborative work with local authorities, the private sector and others to set out a clear strategic vision for what it means for London to be adapting well to climate impacts by 2030 and beyond. The vision will outline the main features and local benefits of becoming climate resilient and include a commitment to take transformational and inclusive action. 
2.6.    The London Councils Climate Programme for local authorities and its Resilient and Green (R&G) workstream would be useful in the development of this, as work is already under way, but with limited capacity. The R&G workstream is trying to strengthen London local government’s strategic adaptation capacity and through this, many boroughs are in the process of developing their own climate adaptation plans and would benefit from the P2R approach giving them strategic direction. 
Climate Resilient Action Plan 
2.7.    Leading on from the vision, a regional action plan for climate adaptation in London should set high level goals, or indicators where appropriate, including measures of equity and community engagement. A regional delivery plan for climate resilience in London must be created collaboratively. Using the P2R approach, we can convene partners, provide guidance to enable action, ensure climate resilience supports other priorities for London and builds on ongoing work. 
Climate Resilience Investment Plan 
2.8.    To actually implement transformational change, regions will need to mobilise finance and resources at scale, raising, deploying and repaying the associated capital. This involves ensuring public finance and budgeting approaches align with climate resilience objectives, and take a strategic approach, seeking to leverage and mobilise private finance.
2.9.    London is in the early stages of the Adaptation Investment Cycle. In June 2023, the GLA established a London Climate Finance Facility to play a role in accelerating green projects and unlocking private sector finance. These mainly focus on decarbonisation.  Since then, the facility has identified three sectors (climate adaptation, nature-based solutions and buildings retrofit) where market failure has meant insufficient private finance is available to drive activity at the scale needed. 
2.10.    The facility has recently commissioned research to produce recommendations for how finance can be accelerated into these key sectors and how it could be prioritised, which business models should be taken forward, the appetite from users and financial institutions and therefore the scale of private sector finance that can be unlocked, and what specific measures the GLA could implement. This follows from the ambitions set out for the LCFF which was launched by the Mayor in June 2023. 
2.11.    Any learning from this research and learning from others would be valuable to enable London to make its way through the Adaptation Investment Cycle to develop, test and advance systemic innovative solutions that increase local climate resilience.
2.12.    Detail of how the money will be spent will be included in a subsequent Decision, however it is anticipated that it will cover: 
•    direct costs of a newly recruited Project Manager (expected to be a grade 9 for the duration of the programme) who will be responsible for co-ordinating and supporting the delivery of the project. This will be approved in parallel through establishment control processes. 
•    subcontracting to fund stakeholder engagement to develop the vision, this will be undertaken in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code. 
•    other goods and services to cover costs of hosting workshops and managing data.
 

3.1.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, the Mayor and GLA are subject to the public sector equality duty and must have due regard to the need to:
•    eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation; 
•    advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not; and 
•    foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not. 
The “protected characteristics” are age, disability, gender re-assignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation and marriage/ civil partnership status. The duty involves having appropriate regard to these matters as they apply in the circumstances, including having regard to the need to: remove or minimise any disadvantage suffered by those who share or is connected to a protected; take steps to meet the different needs of such people; encourage them to participate in public life or in any other activity where their participation is disproportionately low. This can involve treating people with a protected characteristic more favourably than those without one.  

3.2.    Climate risks are not shared equally and action to increase London’s climate resilience must prioritise those most at risk. London’s climate vulnerability mapping shows areas with the greatest environmental risks against social indicators. There is a strong correlation between areas of greatest risk and the proportion of the population that identify as Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME). The London Climate Resilience Review sets out clearly that Londoners who face health inequalities, disabled Londoners and those living in care are at greater risk from climate change impacts. The Review has called for action to adapt London to climate change and increase climate resilience to be as locally led as possible and for Londoners to be engaged in adaptation solutions. Delivery of the P2R project will be used to embed climate justice into London’s adaptation and to take a participatory approach.
3.3.    The P2R project offers a chance to streamline London's approach to climate justice and enable us to further build our understanding of structural vulnerabilities and the distribution of climate impacts, as well as help us engage with those affected to participate in the adaptation planning and implementation. If successful, London will use the P2R process to integrate climate justice into our vision, strategy, and investment plan. Indicative activities include: 
•    assessment of various climate justice dimensions not covered by existing analyses
•    capacity building across local government on engaging community and grass roots groups for climate adaptation- with a focus on marginalised communities.  
•    bringing existing data on climate risks and vulnerabilities together with meaningful stakeholder engagement- through roundtables, visioning sessions or other methods.  
•    identifying indicators and targets to reduce risk and drive climate resilience and justice
•    collaboration between teams and co-design of programmes to ensure that existing and future measures towards climate justice are integrated within the overall transformative adaptation strategy.
3.4.    An aim is to drive bottom-up, rather than top-down climate adaptation, through combining existing data- such as the climate risk maps, with direct engagement with communities to co-develop solutions to address known climate justice issues. P2R will support London to bring together work on climate justice into a transformative regional adaptation vision and pathway, and ensure that investment achieved climate justice outcomes.  

Key Risks and Issues
4.1.    The GLA has been successful in a joint application with London Councils for funding and capacity building support through the EU’s P2R programme. This is a request for a Director’s Decision to accept funding from the European Union’s P2R programme. Accepting this funding carries low risk. A comprehensive risk assessment is to be undertaken as part of the forthcoming MD which will set out more specifically how funds are to be spent. Some potential risks are set out below. 
4.2.    Risk: if accepted, the funding does not offer enough flexibility to align with current process of developing mandates and delivery plans.  
Likelihood: very low. The P2R programme is designed to work with applicants, suit local needs, and places emphasis on being locally led. 
Mitigation: GLA team to ensure the development of a workplan for delivery of the P2R programme achieves priorities as set by the Mayor’s mandates and aligns with GLA and other partner objectives. 
4.3.    Risk: to working relationship with London Councils if the GLA does not accept P2R funding. This is a joint application with London Councils. Failure by the GLA to complete the administrative processes to secure the funding could negatively impact our working relationship with London Councils and by extension London’s local authorities. 
Likelihood: very low. As the responsible local government body the GLA is the consortium lead for the P2R application and must complete administrative processes to secure P2R funding.  
Mitigation: The GLA team is working closely with London Councils counterparts with strong, open lines of communication. Expectations are managed and communicated clearly. Senior buy-in has been secured from both the GLA and London Councils. 
Links to Mayoral Strategies and Priorities 
4.4.    The London Environment Strategy sets out the aim that “London and Londoners will be resilient to severe weather and longer-term climate change impacts. This will include flooding, heat risk and drought.” The London Climate Resilience Review was commissioned by the Mayor to make clear recommendations to advance this aim. The P2R programme would provide funding and support to support the GLA to deliver on two of the Review’s key recommendations (see below), effectively delivering on commitments in the London Environment Strategy. 
4.5.    In the Mayor’s official response to the London Climate Resilience Review (here) the Mayor has committed to work to deliver the recommendations within the Mayor’s remit. As set out above the P2R programme would provide funding, capacity building and dedicated support to deliver two of the Review’s key recommendations made directly to the Mayor of London: 
•    Vision for a Climate Resilient London: the Mayor leads collaborative work with local authorities, the private sector and others to set out a clear strategic vision for what it means for London to be adapting well to climate impacts by 2030 and beyond. 
•    A regional adaptation delivery plan: Work collaboratively to develop an adaptation delivery plan to support London’s strategic vision and lead an exercise to map roles and responsibilities.
4.6.    The “Delivering a Greener, More Resilient London” mandate refers to a workstream of “vision & policy for prioritisation & setting direction”. The Pathways2Resilience programme will enable this workstream.  Details of how the P2R funding will be spent will be provided in the forthcoming MD related to this mandate. This will be developed further as the delivery mandates are refined and delivery plans set out. The programme leads will ensure that the P2R programme is aligned with mandate delivery plans. 
Consultations and impact assessments 
4.7.    An integrated impact assessment (IIA) was carried out for the London Environment Strategy (here). This evaluated the social, economic, environmental, health, community safety and equality consequences of the strategy's proposed policies in order to ensure they are fully considered and addressed. The findings of this impact assessment will be used to inform the development of a workplan for the delivery of the P2R programme. 

5.1.    Approval is requested for the GLA’s receipt of €210,000 (approximately £178,000) from the European Commission to coordinate the delivery of the Pathways2Resilence project in London.  
5.2.    The income will be received in 3 tranches based on reporting milestones with the initial upfront payment totalling €63,000. The expected profile of the income is shown below:

5.3.     The expenditure associated with this decision will be approved within a future decision covering wider climate adaptation work.

6.1.    The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the Director concern the exercise of the GLA’s general powers, and fall within the GLA’s statutory power to do such things considered to further or that are facilitative of, or conducive or incidental to, the promotion of the improvement of the environment within Greater London. In formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought, officers have complied with the GLA’s related statutory duties to:
•    pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people;
•    consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; and
•    consult with appropriate bodies.
6.2.    In taking the decisions requested of him, the Director must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty; namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, and to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010).  To this end, the Director should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.
6.3.    Should the Director make the decision sought they must ensure that they: 
•    are content that the GLA can comply fully with the terms upon which the P2R project funding is being granted; and
•    do not place any reliance upon or make any commitments which rely upon the P2R project funding before: 
o    the GLA and the P2R lead funder (Climate KIC Holding BIV) have entered into and executed a P2R project funding agreement; 
o    all proposals for expenditure which relies upon the P2R project funding are approved under  cover of the MD mentioned at section  1.5 of this decision form.   
 

7.1.    The timeline below sets out how the project will be delivered and complete: