Why we need a “reset moment” to prepare London for more deadly floods and heatwaves

The London Climate Resilience Review has just published its report into London’s preparedness for climate impacts including heatwaves, floods, droughts, wildfires, storms, sea level rise, and subsidence. Francis Heil, Associate Director Climate Change & Resilience at AtkinsRéalis, played a key role in helping to develop the Review’s methodology, and shape the recommendations and final report. Here, he sets out why the calls for action from the review need to be taken forward in London.

The London Climate Resilience Report is an important piece of work, which was ordered by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, after thousands of properties flooded when London received more than twice the average July rainfall in 2021, and vulnerable Londoners died in 2022’s 40°C heatwave.

The Review sets out quite clearly the immediate dangers to people’s lives and livelihoods and has found that government, businesses, and public services have not adequately planned for the disruption and damages caused by climate extremes.

London and cities like it are facing grave risks from climate change, which is why AtkinsRéalis supports the urgent call for action to safeguard vulnerable communities and position London to be a sustainable, inclusive, and resilient city into the future. 

Having been involved in the development of this Review, I can say it is of paramount importance that other cities consider the findings and take on board relevant lessons from the key recommendations.

Among those recommendations is the call for an official heat plan for London to enable the city to better deal with severe heatwaves. There are of course a lot of urgent issues to deal with but the problem of over-heating is already the silent killer of climate change.

Rightfully there is a lot of focus on the increased level of flooding we’ve seen in recent years, as it’s highly visible and destructive. But there have been more than 3,000 people across the UK who have died in recent years due to heatwave-related issues, which is considerably more than flooding. 

So, we really need to see a big push for a heat strategy in London and that has to form part of a common framework, a common vision for London, to establish what a climate adapted resilient city should look like.

The call is for the Greater London Authority to take the lead in defining that vision, and to work collaboratively with stakeholders to develop a strategy for achieving those goals.

We can talk about being a resilient city, but we have to really define targets which can be understood and delivered. Does it mean that no one is living in a property that overheats beyond 27°C, or does it mean that nobody's living in a property that's at risk of a one-in-100 year flood, which is now becoming much more frequent. 

Those are the types of tangible targets that we want to get to in order to deliver that city-wide strategy. And what we need to appreciate, as a society more widely, is that if we implement the kind of recommendations made by the Review, we will also be delivering huge economic benefits. 

There is a real opportunity to help with the cost of living if houses are insulated properly and utilise passive ventilation and natural shading. We need to retrofit housing to be resilient while we are making housing net zero and as energy and water efficient as possible. 

There are also benefits in terms of the green economy. For example if we retrofit all residential properties with insulation, that is going to generate jobs in the construction sector.

We see that there is huge value in the green economy and one of the recommendations of the Review is that London should be harnessing all those economic benefits. We should realise the opportunity to turn the narrative from climate ‘doom and gloom’ to positioning London, and its very strong financial and insurance sector, as a world leader in financing climate action.

The Climate Resilience Review and its recommendations make sense from a social, environmental, and economic perspective, but it will require strong leadership from the Mayor of London, UK Government, and other responsible parties to implement the findings.

But I am hopeful about this because overwhelmingly people support action on climate change and resilience. While we all saw some high profile objection to expanding the ULEZ scheme, Londoners still voted for Sadiq Khan to return to office in May 2024, which demonstrates there is genuine support for ambitious climate and environmental policies.

Of course there is an argument that we can’t afford to spend money on things like climate resilience when the public finances are under great stress and there are so many areas that need urgent funding. But what we all have to accept is that the alternative, which is to do nothing, will incur far higher costs in the future and may even be too little too late in 10 - 20 years from now. 

We all have work to do to ensure we are adapting as well as we can to our changing climate - we cannot afford not to. Let’s use this Review as a reset moment and make London a more resilient, inclusive, and liveable city into the future.

For more details on the Review and the recommendations go to: London Climate Resilience Review Report