ADD2786 - Pathways to Resilience Project

1.1    The GLA and London Councils have been awarded €210,000 (approximately £178,000) from the European Union’s Pathways2Resilience (P2R) programme. This programme guides up to 40 European regions through different steps of the P2R Regional Resilience Journey, with supporting services and capacity building activities lasting 18 months from September 2024. Director Decision DD2714 set out more information about the P2R programme and approval to receive the funding.
1.2    This Assistant Director Decision form (ADD) is seeking approval for the GLA to spend funding for the P2R programme as part of the wider Delivering a Greener, More Climate-Resilient London mandate and associated delivery plan (approved in Mayoral Decision MD3384). This work comes under the ‘Convening partnership action on climate resilience’ project in that delivery plan. MD3384 appointed the Assistant Director for Environment and Energy as the Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) for the programme and delegates authority to them in section 1.16. 
1.3    Following increasing severity and frequency of climate impacts, including the flash floods in 2021 and the record breaking 40-degree heatwave in 2022, the Mayor of London commissioned an independent Review to take stock and make recommendations to guide London’s preparations for more extreme weather. This P2R project will deliver on recommendations 1, 9 and 44 of the London Climate Resilience Review published in July 2024. 
1.4    This decision seeks approval for expenditure on developing the deliverables required under the P2R programme (see section 2). Given P2R is a joint initiative with London Councils, these deliverables have been scoped in partnership and will be delivered in the same way. It is proposed that £220,000 will be spent on:
•    Up to £170,000 will be allocated to the development of the Heat Risk Delivery Plan (HRDP) and accompanying investment plan. Using the adaptive pathways approach, this integrated document will outline actions to adapt to the impacts of extreme heat, alongside potential financing mechanisms to support their implementation. Given the innovative and technical nature of the adaptive pathways methodology—particularly in relation to funding and financing—procurement of a consultant or consortium of consultants will be required to provide specialist expertise and guidance. The appointed consultants will be embedded in the P2R project team so that learning and technical capacity is developed. An appropriate route to market will be used working with TfL procurement.   
•    Up to £25,000 will be allocated to a systems mapping exercise. It will include a collaborative event with partners such as the London Climate Ready Partnership and the Public Health Unit, leveraging their expertise to maximise the value and impact of the work. Money will be spent on organising the event, facilitation, collation of materials and developing systems maps and a final report. 
•    £25,000 will be allocated to develop a vision for a climate-resilient London. This will include funding for a stakeholder event to co-create the vision, as well as design, publication and communications spend.
1.5    The table below shows the split of the spend between the P2R grant and GLA budget. 

2.1    This project seeks to achieve the outcomes set out in the Delivering a Greener, More Climate-Resilient London mandate and delivery plan. Specifically, it will contribute towards the London level outcome: London is resilient to extreme weather and the impacts of climate change. 
2.2    There are two main deliverables that will be produced by P2R. The objectives and outcomes are explained below for each deliverable.
Heat Risk Delivery Plan (HRDP) and Heat Risk Investment Plan
2.3    The HRDP will set out actions to strengthen London’s resilience to more frequent and severe extreme heat events. Using the P2R Regional Resilience Journey, the plan will be co-developed with stakeholders—including the London Climate Ready Partnership—and will include baseline setting, systems mapping, stakeholder engagement, and adaptation pathways. It will serve as London’s strategic response to both short- and long-term overheating risks in a changing climate.
2.4    The investment plan will provide a stocktake of regional progress on investment and funding, with a specific focus on heat risk. Embedded within the HRDP as a dedicated chapter or annex, it will outline how the proposed actions in the plan can be financed and translate these actions into a pipeline of bankable projects, helping to bridge the gap between planning and implementation.
2.5    The HRDP work will also involve a systems mapping exercise. This is an essential step in the P2R methodology. This exercise will help identify vulnerabilities, cascading risks, and interdependencies in managing heat risk across London. It will include a collaborative event with partners such as the London Climate Ready Partnership and the Public Health Unit, leveraging their expertise to maximise the value and impact of the work.   
Climate resilient vision 
2.6    The vision will provide clarity to regional stakeholders on London’s journey to climate resilience. A vision for a climate-resilient London will offer a compelling and co-created narrative that mobilises stakeholders across the region to implement and sustain actions for a climate resilient narrative. 
 

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 
•    foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not.  
3.2    The “protected characteristics” are age, disability, gender reassignment, 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 are connected to a protected characteristic 
•    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. 
3.3    Climate impacts are felt unequally across London, with poorer, disadvantaged communities often living in conditions that magnify the impact of climate change. Those living in housing with poor access to good-quality open space, adequate ventilation or poor levels of insulation can suffer disproportionately from the effects of extreme heat and be less able to take necessary action to reduce their risks. 
3.4    Climate impacts can also be felt disproportionately amongst people with protected characteristics, and there is a high level of intersection across impacts. Older people, pregnant women, babies/ young children, outdoor workers, rough sleepers, and those with pre-existing health conditions are more likely to suffer from the effects of extreme heat. Those with underlying health conditions are at risk from increased mortality due to the combination of extreme heat and poor air quality. Supporting vulnerable communities and individuals to adapt to a changing climate, and enabling climate equity, will be a critical priority when assessing potential actions to adapt to higher temperatures and the costs of those actions. 
3.5    Addressing climate impacts, and building capacity to respond, will benefit those most impacted by climate change. The P2R deliverables will seek to integrate climate-justice approaches. This will ensure action is targeted where it is needed most to deliver a just transition to a better adapted London. 
 

4.1    Key risks and issues: 

4.2    Links to Mayoral Strategies and Priorities: This work links to the Mayoral mandate to deliver a Greener, More Climate-Resilient London, specifically under the “providing leadership” projects. It also supports the London Environment Strategy to make Londoners resilient to severe weather and longer-term impacts of climate change, including flood, heat and drought.  
4.3    Conflicts of Interest: No conflicts of interest have been identified for any officers involved in the development of this proposal or drafting or clearance of this decision form.  
 

5.1    Approval is requested for up to £220,000 of expenditure to procure additional administrative and technical resources to deliver the P2R deliverables. £100,000 of this will be from the Pathways2Resilience EU grant funding and £120,000 is GLA budget as outlined in the Greener and More Resilient delivery plan. 
5.2    This revenue expenditure will be funded from the Pathways2Resiience grant received and the Convening Climate Action budget within the Environment Unit. There is sufficient budget available within the Environment Unit’s approved budget for 2025-26 financial year. 
5.3    All appropriate budget adjustments will be made.
 

6.1.    The table below sets out how the project will be delivered and the outline timetable: