MD3413 - Improving climate adaptation and greening in London

1.1.    The Mayor’s ambitious new delivery plan for his Delivering a Greener, More Climate-Resilient London programme (approved by MD3384) describes how the GLA will work with others to improve access to nature and drive climate adaptation while ensuring the benefits are felt equitably across the city. The delivery plan focuses the GLA’s efforts where they are needed most: achieving more equitable access to nature; and supporting Londoners who have contributed relatively little to climate change but are often the most affected.
1.2.    Paragraph 1.17 in MD3384 refers to a new large-scale greening and adaptation delivery project called Investment in strategic projects focussed on climate adaptation and greening (thereafter called “the Project”). It aims to enable the delivery of a small number of strategic, transformational green-and-blue infrastructure and climate-resilience deliverables that support the priorities in the programme mandate. 
1.3.    Deliverables will be identified by leveraging cutting-edge spatial evidence from: 
•    the forthcoming London Green Infrastructure Framework and Local Nature Recovery Strategy
•    the London Urban Forest Plan
•    the London Surface Water Strategy
•    the Heat RiskPlan 
•    the Clean and Healthy Waterways Plan.
1.4.    As a result, the Project will direct resources to places that need them most. Its ambition is to maximise social, ecological and climate-resilience outcomes, ensuring  a more equitable urban environment for all. 
1.5.    This Mayoral Decision (MD) seeks approval to spend up to £7.906m for the delivery of the Project. One-third of the funding will be dedicated to waterways. This MD also sets out the selection process for the deliverables that sit under the Project and their delivery approaches. Decision-making on final deliverables is delegated to the Assistant Director, Environment and Energy, in consultation with the Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy.

Objectives
2.1.    The Project will contribute to the following London-level outcomes: 
•    Londoners can enjoy green and wild spaces across the capital 
•    London is resilient to extreme weather and the impacts of climate change.
2.2.    The overall objective of the Project is to make London more resilient to climate change, and to ensure that all Londoners, regardless of income or background, can access and benefit from green, blue and wild places. 

The Project
2.3.    The Project will provide investment at various phases of development, including early planning and partnerships; scaling; and delivery. Unlike the competitive application process for Green Roots, the Project will award funding directly to enable the delivery of targeted deliverables where they are most needed. These may be too large-scale or complex for the Green Roots Fund.
2.4.    To select between five and nine deliverables, the evidence sources outlined at paragraph 1.3 have been used to develop a list of strategic investment priorities. Table 1, below, details expected outcome, type of deliverable, and type of location:
Table 1: Strategic investment priorities

2.5.    A set of suitability criteria will be used to support detailed scoping work and identify the specific deliverables that respond to the investment priorities. The criteria will help the GLA determine which deliverables to take forward. 
2.6.    The proposed suitability criteria include the following:
•    transformation: whether the geographic scale is significant, or if GLA investment will bring about significant change, such as unlocking necessary deliverables at scale, innovating and providing replicable models or bringing key stakeholders together
•    deliverability: whether significant progress can be made during this mayoral term
•    additionality: whether GLA involvement will lead to further impact and/or benefits that would not have happened otherwise
•    strategic alignment: whether the deliverable will support GLA strategic priorities identified in mayoral strategies and plans, or mayoral commitments.
2.7.    In addition to the four criteria referenced above, three further considerations will be applied: 
•    geographic spread of deliverables
•    spread across the development phases (i.e., supporting some at an early-stage that need more scoping and feasibility studies, but with the majority at a more mature stage able to begin on the ground delivery more quickly) 
•    GLA resource availability.
2.8.    Alongside direct GLA investment, each deliverable will receive a tailored support package to enhance delivery capacity among stakeholders involved and ensure GLA priorities are embedded. This support will be provided through a mix of GLA officer support and specialist technical delivery support that will be procured by the GLA in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code.
2.9.    As set out in the Delivering a Greener, More Climate-Resilient London delivery plan, the majority of the deliverables will be selected by March 2026. However, any deliverable identified through the forthcoming Heat Risk Plan will be agreed after this date.
2.10.    Funding will be awarded to identified partners in the form of grants (expected to be £500,000 or more per deliverable through phased funding over three years). 
2.11.    To enable the timely allocation of funding, this MD seeks a delegation of authority to the Assistant Director, Environment and Energy, to approve the final list of deliverables and associated funding allocations without the need for a further MD. This would be done with supporting evidence and in accordance with the criteria set out above; and in consultation with the Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy. The Assistant Director, Environment and Energy, will ensure compliance with the obligations set out in the Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014, which set out when written records of decisions and their content need to be published. Furthermore, a record in writing will be prepared.
2.12.    It is hoped that the Project will serve as a catalyst for wider change, unlocking additional funding from public and private partners. In all cases, therefore, GLA officers will seek to leverage additional funding from other public and private organisations to increase the total delivery budget. No additional funding is yet confirmed, and any additional funding would likely be awarded directly to partners. 
2.13.    Where additional funding from government (or other sources) is secured and passed through the GLA in the future, to expand or extend existing approved deliverables contained in the Project, and the parameters remain the same, or similar, as originally agreed with funding partner(s), this MD seeks approval to delegate to the Assistant Director, Environment and Energy to agree the receipt of such funding after consulting the GLA’s legal advisers and the Chief Finance Officer without the need for a further decision form. 
2.14.    For the purposes of considering whether the parameters are similar as originally agreed with government (or the relevant body), the Assistant Director, Environment and Energy, will have regard to whether the outcomes to be delivered have changed significantly or there is a significant change in attendant risks of the original scheme. The Assistant Director, Environment and Energy, will ensure compliance with the obligations set out in the Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014, which set out when written records of decisions and their content need to be published. Furthermore, a record in writing will be prepared.
2.15.    A budget of up to £7.306m will enable delivery over three financial years. An estimated £0.6m, 7.6 per cent of the total budget, will cover technical delivery support for the partners, as referenced in paragraph 2.8. Examples of technical delivery support include advice on funding and finance models; equality, diversity and inclusion; and ecological and climate resilient landscape design to enable faster delivery. Furthermore, it will help address any capability and capacity barriers to delivery such as leveraging funding, local stakeholder engagement, partnership building, governance models, skills development and knowledge sharing. Allocating a proportion of the total budget to a technical delivery support offer where the resources can be shared across all deliverables ensures efficient and streamlined delivery, avoids independent procurement activities and ensures high quality expertise in line with GLA priorities. Any unspent technical delivery support budget will be reallocated to partners as part of the Project delivery grants.
 

3.1.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as a public authority, the Mayor of London and the GLA must have ‘due regard’ of the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation; and to advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations, between people who have a protected characteristic and those who do not. 
3.2.    This involves having due regard to the need to remove or minimise any disadvantage suffered by those who share or are connected to a relevant protected characteristic; taking steps to meet the different needs of such people; and encouraging 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.    The Project outlined in this MD will assist delivery of the policies and proposals in the London Environment Strategy, which has been informed by a full integrated impact assessment, including consideration of equalities. The Equalities Assessment Report for the London Environment Strategy noted that exposure to poor environmental conditions is much higher among Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Londoners. 
3.4.    Additionally, the forthcoming London Green Infrastructure Framework focuses on targeting social and health inequalities through green infrastructure and climate resilience deliverables. This evidence base will be used to inform priority locations that help to address social and health inequalities.
3.5.    A climate and equalities impact assessment has been completed specifically for the Project and the results will inform Project design and delivery. 
3.6.    The proposed Project outlined in this MD specifically responds to, and aims to tackle, the disparity in how different groups experience nature in London. Some elements of the Project will focus on social and health inequalities, implementing green infrastructure and climate resilience deliverables to improve access to and the benefits from it, particularly for underrepresented groups. 
3.7.    Furthermore, as a condition of funding, delivery partners need to demonstrate how their deliverable will address equality, diversity and inclusion. Each deliverable will also need to demonstrate how it will ensure that, as relevant, that the needs of the local community are included in the design and implementation, and how the relevant groups will benefit from them.
 

4.1.    The key risks and issues are set out in the table below:

Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities
4.2.    This Project will contribute towards the following policies and objectives of the London Environment Strategy: 
•    Policy 5.1.1: Protect, enhance and increase green areas in the city, to provide green infrastructure services and benefits that London needs now and in the future
•    Policy 5.1.2: Protect, conserve, and enhance the landscape and cultural value of London’s green infrastructure
•    Policy 5.2.1: Protect a core network of nature conservation sites and ensure a net gain in biodiversity
•    Policy 5.3.1: Address underinvestment, and improve the management of London’s green infrastructure, by developing new business models and improving the awareness of the benefits of London’s green infrastructure
•    Policy 8.2.1: Reduce the risk and manage the impacts of surface water, sewer, fluvial, reservoir and groundwater flooding in London
•    Policy 8.2.3: Reduce the risk and manage the impacts of surface water, sewer, fluvial, reservoir and groundwater flooding in London
•    Objective 5.1: Make more than half of London’s area green by 2050
•    Objective 5.2: Conserving and enhancing wildlife and natural habitats 
•    Objective 5.3: Value London’s natural capital as an economic asset and support greater investment in green infrastructure
•    Objective 8.1: Understand and manage the risks and impacts of severe weather and future climate change in London on critical infrastructure, public services, buildings, and people
•    Objective 8.2: Reduce risks and impacts of flooding in London on people and property, and improve water quality in London’s rivers and waterways. 

4.3.    It will also contribute to the delivery and use of key policy frameworks, strategies, plans and report recommendations, such as:
•    the London Surface Water Strategy
•    the London Urban Forest Plan
•    the London Climate Resilience Review
•    the London Rewilding Taskforce Recommendations Report
•    the forthcoming London Green Infrastructure Framework, the Local Nature Recovery Strategy, the Heat Risk Plan, and the Clean and Healthy Waterways Plan.
4.4.    As referenced in the Delivering a Greener, More Climate-Resilient London delivery plan (Appendix 1), this Project will also contribute to wider London-level outcomes, including that Londoners live in neighbourhoods that are well-planned and designed; London is a world-leading global city; and Londoners live in a city that supports their mental and physical health. And it contributes to the cross-cutting priorities of a resilient London, health in all policies and addressing structural inequalities.

4.5.    Consultation and further impact assessments will be undertaken where appropriate; this will be shaped through engagement with relevant stakeholders such as delivery partners, community stakeholders and advisory groups.
GDPR
4.6.    All records, particularly those relating to funding recipients, will be held in line with the GLA’s requirements under GDPR.
Conflicts of interest 
4.7.    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. 
 

Proposed budget
5.1.    The table below details the proposed budget profile. The budget lines are included in the draft budget for 2025-26 onwards. They have been incorporated into the Delivering a Greener, More Climate-Resilient London delivery plan (including both green infrastructure and climate adaptation budgets) as approved by MD3384.

5.2.    Future years’ budgets will still be subject to the annual budget-setting process. Any contracts that cover future years will need to have break clauses to ensure spending is in line with available budget resources. Any changes in the anticipated profile of spend across the years will be reflected as updates during the budget setting process.

5.3.    One third of the Project budget will be dedicated to waterways-related deliverables that emerge from the development of the Clean and Healthy Waterways Plan.

5.4.    Any additional funding secured for the Project will be used to enhance the Project with the appropriate budget adjustments being made.
 

6.1.    The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions sought concern the exercise of the GLA’s general powers, falling within the GLA’s statutory powers 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 in Greater London. In formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought, officers must comply 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 UK
•    consult with appropriate bodies.
6.2.    In taking any decisions sought, the Mayor 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, sex, age, sexual orientation, religion, gender reassignment) and persons who do not (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the Mayor should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.
6.3.    The Mayor may delegate authority to the Assistant Director, Environment and Energy (in consultation with the Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy or otherwise) pursuant to section 38 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999, should he wish. 
6.4.    If the Mayor makes the decisions sought, officers must ensure that:
•    no reliance is placed, nor commitments made that rely upon the availability of: additional funding/sponsorship until binding legal commitments are secured from funders/sponsors; and/or future years’ GLA budgets until they have been approved definitively 
•    where, third party grant funding is secured, they are satisfied that the GLA’s proposed use the of the same is compliant with the funder’s terms of award
•    third party funding taking the form of sponsorship is sought in accordance with the GLA’s sponsorship policy and such sums exceed the costs of providing the associated benefits to each sponsor (as per section 93 of the Local Government Act 2003)
•    any award of grant funding is made fairly, transparently, and in accordance with the GLA’s equalities requirements, the requirements of GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code and the Subsidy Control Act 2023 and funding agreements are put in place between and executed by the GLA and recipients before any commitment to fund is made
•    all services, supplies or works required are procured in liaison with TfL Procurement and in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code and contracts are put in place between and executed by the GLA and contractors before commencement of such services.

The work will be delivered according to the following timetable:

Appendix 1 - MD3384 Delivery Plan – Delivering a Greener, More Climate-Resilient London.