The London Climate Resilience Review

Rohit T Aggarwala, New York City Chief Climate Officer
“Climate change has shifted from a threat on the horizon to a recurring aspect of our weather with impacts felt disproportionately in vulnerable communities. The London Climate Resilience Review is a pioneering report, which puts climate change and its impact on London’s communities front and center and makes clear the benefits of climate action, including cleaner air, better mobility, safer homes, and growing green jobs and businesses.” 

Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, Mayor of Freetown and co-chair of C40 Cities
“Cities around the world are experiencing long periods of dangerous, higher temperatures and humidity that stress communities due to climate change. In Global South cities, heat stress leads to economic and non-economic losses, directly impacting the informal workforce and mostly women. Emma Howard Boyd's Review makes practical recommendations that give London, and other cities, a chance to get ahead of the worst risks. In Freetown, our Transform Freetown -Transforming Lives 2024-2028 Development Agenda is a clear roadmap to protect vulnerable people and implement cooling solutions for the long-term health and well-being of Freetown residents. The existence within FCC of a Chief Heat Officer demonstrates our commitment to take heat actions to ensure a heat resilient city. The future depends on the choices we make now.” 

Sir John Armitt, Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission
“Londoners face numerous threats from climate change that could impact daily lives - issues like surface water flooding, extreme heat and drought. This report sets out what needs to happen to try and mitigate these threats, including further and faster action to tackle flood risk, and infrastructure operators gaining a better understanding of the costs of adaptation in the light of weather data. The Review team’s work represents a coherent plan of action which must be taken seriously by government and other decision makers.” 

Patrick Begg, Outdoors and Natural Resources Director at the National Trust
"Extreme weather events, made worse by climate change, pose a major threat to the heritage and nature we look after, to our visitors, and to everyone’s safety and wellbeing. This review justifies the new Prime Minister’s manifesto commitment to act on climate resilience – a great first step would be to give a senior Minister the task of addressing this challenge across all Departments, and to include climate resilience within the remit of its new “Mission Control” on clean power.. A whole-of Government approach is needed to respond to this threat at pace and scale. Locally, we must also heed the review’s call to invest in our planning system, to help councils drive climate resilient, greener growth."

Denise Bower, Group External Engagement Director, Mott MacDonald 
"The full spectrum of consequences from climate change pose a significant risk to our communities and cities. From power failure and flooding to excess mortality and long-term health issues, the London Climate Resilience Review raises the alarm for the capital, but this also applies across the length and breadth of the country. 
 
"The message is clear: if we want to build resilience and allow all communities to flourish then urgent action is needed. This requires a multi-layered approach with the right leadership and governance at the national and regional level, collaboration between the public and private sector to deliver the investment required, embedding risk and resilience into strategic decision-making on our infrastructure and buildings, and supporting Londoners in knowing what to expect and what to do."

Kathryn Brown OBE, Director of Climate Change and Evidence at The Wildlife Trusts 
“Climate change is risking people’s lives and wellbeing in London. At the same time, it is posing grave threats to the city’s iconic natural environment. London is a green city, and the London Climate Resilience Review has championed the role of nature in protecting London against extreme heatwaves and floods. It is becoming more and more important to restore London’s precious street trees, woodlands, wetlands and parks. We strongly support the systems approach that the Review has taken in drawing out these linkages and look forward to continuing to work together with the Mayor and others to make London a leading city in climate resilience.”

Dame Jo da Silva, Global Director of Sustainable Development at Arup
"London is a resilient city, but climate impacts are testing that resilience. Extreme heat, intense rainfall, and sea level rise are translating into risks across the capital. Water scarcity, heatwaves, flooding and wildfires are already leading to loss of life and damage and disruption to the infrastructure we all depend on. It will get worse unless we design for the future.

"The London Climate Resilience Review is an important step in preparing London for increasing climate impacts. It looks at what is currently happening in the city, examining our climate resilience today, and asks the big question: what more do we have to do.    
This is a call to organisations across London to take action- we need radical collaboration. Everyone has role to play."

Javier Echave, Chief Operating Officer at Heathrow
"Heathrow welcomes the publication of the London Resilience Review and its findings. Accelerating the transition to net zero must be our priority, and it is critical we work together to take the steps that are necessary to improve our collective resilience to climate change. The Resilience Review captures the urgency and sends a clear message on the need to move to action."

Professor Piers Forster, Interim Chair of the UK Climate Change Committee
“Addressing the recommendations of this well evidenced review could not be more urgent given the level of flooding experienced across the UK last winter. The report is stark about the economic and health impact of inaction - but it is also clear on the opportunities for London if councils and businesses deliver on resilience. The Climate Change Committee will carefully look at the detail of this review to inform our work on the Fourth Climate Change Risk Assessment that will be published in 2026.”

Lord Toby Harris, Chair of the National Preparedness Commission 
“The consequences of climate change will be the backdrop to everything we do in the coming years. Until now, the chorus of people warning that we need to be better prepared for climate shocks have lacked a hymn sheet. The London Climate Resilience Review clearly sets out the nature of the challenge and the collective actions we need to take. 
We must act to prevent, and prepare for, cascading multi-network failure during extreme weather and ensure that our systems are resilient. I welcome Emma Howard Boyd's call for the new government to prioritise the country’s climate resilience.” 

Selwin Hart, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General of the United Nations on Climate Action and Assistant Secretary General for the Climate Action Team 
“Cities are on the frontline of the climate crisis. As we accelerate the pace of the transition away from fossil fuels, we must also urgently invest in adaptation and resilience building to protect people and livelihoods from increasing more frequent and intense climate extremes.  The London Climate Resilience Review sets out clearly how much is at risk and what must be done to prepare for higher temperatures, intense rainfall, flooding and deadly heatwaves. In London and cities across the world, the vulnerable and marginalized are often the most affected. Climate action cannot wait.”
 

Chris Hayward, City of London Corporation Policy Chairman 
“London can expect to experience more extreme weather, with disruption to the transport and infrastructure we rely on every day.  

“That is why we welcome the actions set out in this report, and look forward to working with City Hall and the capital’s Local Authorities to boost our climate resilience.  

“By acting in partnership, we can deliver social, economic, and environmental benefits through co-ordinated climate action.”  

Francis Heil, Associate Director – Climate Change & Resilience, AtkinsRéalis
“Cities are facing grave risks from climate change, and AtkinsRéalis fully supports the urgent call for action to safeguard vulnerable communities and position London to be a sustainable, inclusive, and resilient city into the future. 

“We have been pleased to support the Review’s important work and we urge other cities to consider the findings and take on board relevant lessons from the key recommendations.”

Jacob Heitland, Director of Climate Action at the London Borough of Newham  
"We welcome the urgently needed London Climate Resilience Review’s holistic approach to adapting our city to the ever worsening climate crisis. Climate shocks like extreme heat, surface water flooding, and drought are disproportionately affecting our already vulnerable communities especially as they intersect with the cost of living crisis and existing inequities. As part of our collaboration with the review, we know Newham residents experience some of the highest risk nationally and already paying the most in terms of health and monetary impacts, with many homes unsafe even under current climate conditions. 

"Our U.K.-first Just Transition Plan aims to address these inequities, ensuring that climate resilience is central to our climate work, locally led and communities are empowered to highlight and mitigate risks specific to their areas – something which is strongly emphasised in the Review. 

“We must dispel the notion that climate resilience is a ‘nice to have’ and will ‘cost households and businesses.’ The costs of inaction are far greater and at times fatal, and will continue to rise if we do not act decisively. By investing in our neighbourhoods, growing local economies and reducing disruption, we can and must create a resilient future for all across the capital – and ensure the negative impacts and costs do not fall on those already struggling.”

Ingrid Holmes, Executive Director of the Green Finance Institute, Co-Chair of the Climate Financial Risk Forum Adaptation Working Group
"Responding to climate events and repairing damage is more costly than investing in adaptation and resilience measures. The London Climate Resilience Review shows that many climate impacts are already locked in, so as we aim for net zero, investors must also protect their assets from the extreme weather we can expect in the years to come. Better forward looking hazard-based physical risk analysis by financial institutions is key to unlocking investment. It is a key means to enable informed dialogue with clients and investee companies on measures that can be financed or underwritten." 

Dominic Jordan, General Manager of the British Association for Sustainable Sport 
“Climate change is disrupting sport at every level, and poses an existential threat to the future of the sports we love and play. The London Climate Resilience Review is clear on the scale of the challenge, and the actions we all need to take to rise to it.

"People are at the heart of sport - from school sports, grassroots community sports groups and teams through to professional levels. We need to build on the amazing sustainability initiatives BASIS members are already implementing in the capital and across the UK, and play a huge part in bringing people together to build resilience and tackle climate change across all parts of society.”

Rachel Kyte, Professor of Practice in Climate Policy, Blavatnik School of Government, Dean Emerita of The Fletcher School at Tufts University
“First the bad news. This report shows that London and the South East, but by extension the whole of the UK, face serious and urgent challenges as climate impacts bite down on communities and our economic productivity. 

“But, the good news is that this excellent report, and the engagement that involved, provides a pathway to safety and security if government acts on its recommendations. And, in the long run, even more importantly, as the new Labour government hits the reset button on the relationships between local government and Westminster, and between people and their politicians, this report shows how, if we work together, we can build the resilience of everyone.”

Martin Machray, Executive Director – Improvement, Transformation and Partnerships NHS England London
"The climate crisis directly impacts our health, wellbeing, and future. We must act now, for our children and grandchildren, the elderly, and ourselves. The increasing frequency of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, flooding, and severe storms is shaping how we deliver healthcare in London. This review provides a crucial roadmap for our actions in London and we will work in collaboration with our partners across London to tackle this issue."

Elizabeth Rapoport, Chair of the London Surface Water Strategic Group 
"Flash flooding from heavy rainfall presents a significant threat to urban areas both nationally and globally, highlighting the importance of shared knowledge and collaborative learning. The London Resilience Review rightly identifies the unique challenges faced by London, a city of over nine million residents. Recognising the acute risk posed by flash flooding, the London Surface Water Strategic Group will release a summary of our planned approach to tackle this issue in summer, followed by a comprehensive strategy and implementation plan later this year."

Sarah Ratcliffe, CEO, Better Buildings Partnership
“The London Climate Resilience Review is a critical call to action and highlights that the impacts of climate change are already evident in London and likely to escalate significantly in the future.  The Review also demonstrates that this is a whole-systems challenge and that collaboration will be absolutely essential if London is to evolve into a climate-resilient city.  Only by taking a strategic, place-based, approach will it be possible to ensure that the built environment can adapt in ways that support productivity, attract finance and capital and make the vital connections between climate change mitigation and resilience.”

Professor Anusha Shah, President of the Institution of Civil Engineers
“There is a wealth of evidence right here in London that climate change is happening and putting people’s lives at risk. The smart thing to do is to turn this risk into the biggest opportunity of our lives and reshape our city with nature and people at the heart. This will help significantly in making London low carbon, climate resilient, greener, economically productive and socially equitable. 

"To achieve this, we need to overhaul our current systems. Every sector: including governments and engineers consistently talk about the importance of systems thinking, yet we continue to operate in silos and discuss net zero, climate resilience, biodiversity decline and social inequity in isolation. The London Climate Resilience Review does the necessary work of joining the dots. We have been waiting for this for a long time”. 

Ashok Sinha, Chair of the London Sustainable Development Commission (LSDC) 
“This review is a rallying cry for the major action needed to protect Londoners from the impacts of climate change. Not only are killer heatwaves and flooding already harming lives and livelihoods, and set to worsen. The report crucially emphasises the need for a ‘Just Transition’, showing that we must support the most disadvantaged communities who are at greatest risk from climate impacts – such as people on lower incomes, who live in poor-quality housing, and work in frontline jobs.

 "As the report compellingly underscores, echoing analysis by the LSDC, this will require a coordinated plan for action; proper devolution of powers and funding to London and its boroughs; deep engagement with all Londoners; and support for communities to shape local solutions. The good news is that effective climate adaptation and mitigation, if pursued hand-in-hand as the report strongly recommends, can lead to real social and economic gains as well as saving lives and limiting global heating.”

Rt Hon Chris Skidmore OBE, Chair, Mission Zero Coalition 
“As the minister responsible for signing the net zero legislation into law, I saw the momentous impact that the UK’s decision had on the rest of the world. Emma Howard Boyd’s Review shows that adaptation and resilience’s moment has finally come and should have done before now. In this report a broad agenda has been brought together in a way that politicians, businesses, and communities can support together. The Net Zero Review, Mission Zero, made clear that we needed a greater focus on adaptation and resilience for the future, and I’m delighted that this new report helps provide the frameworks needed for a paradigm shift towards ensuring that we tackle all aspects of climate change effectively and sooner rather than later."

Lord Nicholas Stern, Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change, London School of Economics
"The London Climate Resilience Review, commissioned by the Mayor of London and chaired by Emma Howard Boyd, is a very important and timely work. Over 15 years ago, the Stern Review: the Economics of Climate Change talked about the costs of not acting to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Today, we are seeing those economic impacts play out in near daily events around the world. This vital Review deserves to leapfrog climate adaptation from a sideshow in environmental policy to the mainstream of the new government's growth agenda."

Jason Storah, CEO UK & Ireland General Insurance, Aviva 
“As the storms of last winter demonstrated, we are already seeing the impact of extreme weather across the UK on our customers, their families and livelihoods.  If we are to avoid the devastating impacts of flooding and other climate impacts, we need to take a collective approach across national government, local authorities and business to ensure we are better prepared to face into the challenges of the future. I welcome this report as an important contribution to that discussion – not just in London, but also across the UK.” 
 

Bob Ward, Chair of the London Climate Ready Partnership and Policy and Communications Director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science 
“This excellent report makes clear that everybody who lives and works in London, including communities, companies and governments, need to contribute to the task of making London more resilient to the growing impacts of climate change. It is particularly essential that the new Labour Government now re-sets the relationship with London’s Mayor and boroughs to work together effectively on accelerating adaptation and on aligning national and local policies. A critically key issue is to act with much greater urgency on preventing overheating in offices and homes, which kills hundreds of people across the capital each year and costs the London economy billions of pounds through lower productivity.”

Cllr Kieron Williams, London Councils Executive Member for Transport, Climate and Environment 
“London boroughs are committed to rapid action to tackle the climate emergency, from supporting more people to walk and cycle, to addressing flooding and energy insecurity. We know that London, as the biggest city in the UK, has a vital role to play in reducing carbon emissions.

“Local government is uniquely placed to protect residents from the extreme impacts of climate change. We know our communities and can embed real, lasting change from the ground up. We are already targeting prevention towards the most vulnerable from making streets more resilient to floods to better preparing our communities for heatwaves.

“Boroughs are determined to work with the Mayor, government, and partners across the capital to step up the pace of delivery on climate adaptation. This Review makes clear there is no time to waste.”

London Environment Strategy, London Plan, London City Resilience Strategy, Transport Strategy

These strategies are the backbone of existing work on climate adaptation for the Mayor of London. The London Environment Strategy identifies climate risks and the policies and programmes to support delivery. The London Plan contains policies addressing many aspects of adaptation including around sustainable drainage provision, water efficiency measures, addressing flood risk, and managing overheating from new development.

Integrated Water Management Strategies

Delivered through the Infrastructure Coordination Service. To date, six local – scale IWMSs have been delivered in London Plan Opportunity Areas and one sub-regional IWMS has been delivered in East London.

Climate Budgets and the GLA Group budget

In 2023/24 the Mayor has required all GLA group bodies to identify climate adaptation projects and actions they are supporting through the budget process. The GLA is currently testing a decision making tool to take account of climate in decision making.

Strategic Surface Water Group

Following flash floods in July 2021, the Mayor used his convening powers to bring together organisations with statutory responsibilities around surface water flooding. Following this work a ‘Strategic group’ has been set up to develop a pan London strategy and implementation plan,

Thames Estuary 2100

GLA was a member of the Advisory group for the update and is now taking part in the Environment Agency’s delivery groups.

Climate resilience programmes through the green new deal

£24m for grant programmes for green space and climate resilience (such as Green and Resilient Spaces and the Green and Heathy Streets Fund). In addition the Future Neighbourhoods 2030 programme integrates climate adaptation actions in the two neighbourhoods and strategies of the ten additional neighbourhoods.

Climate Resilient Schools programme

£1.8 million programme supported by Thames Water and the Department for Education which received national recognition and is helping to identify and implement measures to tackle surface water flooding and heat in some of London’s most climate vulnerable schools

SuDS guidance and training

The GLA has funded and helped deliver SuDS training to over 300 TfL and borough highways officers to upskill them on how they can tackle surface water flooding through their projects. Guidance documents have been developed for key sectors including hospitals, schools, social housing, parks, retail and commercial. 

Climate vulnerability mapping

London-wide climate risk maps have been produced to analyse climate exposure and vulnerability across Greater London. These maps were produced by Bloomberg Associates in collaboration with the Greater London Authority to help the GLA and other London-based organisations deliver equitable responses to the impacts of climate change and target resources to support communities at highest risk.

Building community resilience

The GLA Resilience team has been working with community and voluntary sector organisations to improve partnership working on resilience. As part of its programme, 11 projects in 11 boroughs will receive extension funding for local resilience projects focusing on climate resilience in particular.

Cool Spaces

The GLA has established the cool spaces map which helps the public find places of refuge during hot weather and summer heatwaves. Working with partners including boroughs and faith groups, 485 indoor and outdoor cool spaces available last summer during the extreme heat episodes.

Drinking water fountains

The Mayor has also partnered with Thames Water and the London Zoological Society to install a network of 138 drinking water fountains in busy and accessible areas of London which Londoners can access all year round and especially during extreme heat episodes. The Refill app that can be downloaded for free  shows where the water fountains are located.

Overheating Audits for Care Homes

The Mayor’s Care Home Audit pilot has seen a further four care home overheating audits undertaken in London. They include simple recommendations to help care homes prepare for extreme heat events. University College London has secured £750k to scale up the approach nationally.

Tree planting

Following 2022’s extreme temperatures and wildfires, the Mayor pledged £3.1m for a new tree planting package to protect and future-proof London, in response to the impacts of climate change. The Mayor has also secured £3m from the government’s Urban Tree Challenge Fund to plant almost 8,000 street trees across 22 boroughs by March 2023, focusing on areas with low canopy cover and high deprivation

Infrastructure Coordination Service

The Infrastructure Coordination Service (ICS) has identified a potential opportunity to use existing utility works to enable the scaled delivery of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) in London. Initial research led by the ICS in summer 2023 and funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s Regulators’ Pioneer Fund has identified a potential market-based approach to enable the collaboration, scalability and efficiency needed to unlock delivery of SuDS at scale through existing utility works.

In November 2019, London Councils agreed a climate programme covers every area London needs to achieve net zero, which includes:

• Retrofitting our buildings to make them cheaper to heat and reduce their impact on the environment.
• Increasing the number of Londoners employed in the green economy.
• Ramping up local renewable power.
• Ensuring that all new developments have a minimal carbon footprint.
• Advancing low carbon transport.
• Working with residents and businesses to reduce their consumption-based emissions.
• Developing the resilience London needs to cope with the extreme weather events that come more frequently and severely with climate change.

London Councils has now launched their priorities for 2023/25 through the next phase of their programme to scale up delivery and ensure that London's boroughs' collaboration on net zero and adaptation moves from strength to strength. Further details can be seen on their website.