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Climate Change Adaptation Strategy OCTOBER 2011 the LONDON CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION STRATEGY

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Climate Change Adaptation Strategy OCTOBER 2011 the LONDON CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION STRATEGY Managing risks and increasing resilience The Mayor’s cliMaTe change adapTaTion sTraTegy OCToBER 2011 THE LONDON CLIMaTe CHANGE ADAPTaTION sTRATEGY copyrighT Greater London Authority October 2011 Published by Greater London Authority City Hall, The Queen’s Walk London SE1 2AA www.london.gov.uk enquiries 020 7983 4100 minicom 020 7983 4458 ISBN 978-1-84781-469-2 Cover photo © 2011 BURNS & NICE Ltd, London Key authors: Alex Nickson, Helen Woolston, Juliette Daniels, Isabel Dedring, Kevin Reid, Kulveer Ranger, Louise Clancy, Roger Street, Tim Reeder. Other contributors: GLA Group, London Climate Change Partnership, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, London Assembly Environment Committee, Liberal Democrat Assembly Members, the North London Strategic Alliance, Diocese of Southwark Croydon Area Mission Team, Department of Health, English Heritage, Federation of Small Businesses, London First, London Sustainable Development Commission, Natural Environment Leaders Group, North London Waste Authority, London Wildlife Trust. London Borough of Bexley, London Borough of Brent, London Borough of Westminster, London Borough of Camden, London Borough of Islington, Royal Borough Kensington and Chelsea, Sustainable Water Industry Group. 3 Managing risks and increasing resilience The Mayor’s cliMaTe change adapTaTion sTraTegy OCToBER 2011 THE LONDON CLIMaTe CHANGE ADAPTaTION sTRATEGY conTenTs Foreword 5 PREFACE 7 execuTive summary 11 INTRODUCTION 17 PART ONE – undersTanding The cliMaTe oF The FuTure 23 Chapter 1 London’s future climate 24 Chapter 2 Mapping adaptation – who is responsible for what, and where are the gaps? 30 PART TWO – undersTanding and Managing The iMpacTs 37 Chapter 3 Flooding 38 Chapter 4 Drought 54 Chapter 5 Overheating 66 PART THREE – assessing The iMpacTs on cross-cutting issues 81 Chapter 6 Health 82 Chapter 7 London’s environment 90 Chapter 8 London’s economy 96 Chapter 9 Infrastructure 101 PART Four – ImpleMenTing The sTraTegy 111 Chapter 10 Roadmap to resilience 112 appendix 1 – acronyMs and abbreviaTions 117 appendix 2 – noTes and reFerences 119 5 Foreword We have all seen the disaster movies, in which improve the quality of life for Londoners by a sprawling modern metropolis is brought to its ensuring that we focus our efforts on delivering a knees by a global-warming induced deluge of cleaner and greener city with stronger and safer Biblical proportions, or plunged into a glacial Ice communities through our work to make the city Age of permanent winter. However, Hollywood more sustainable and preserving its prosperity for hyperbole aside, London’s climate is changing. decades to come. We must take steps now to ensure the city is prepared for the future. Not just to avert Many of the actions set out in this strategy bring environmental disaster but also to preserve and tangible benefits in the present, such as greening enhance our quality of life and prosperity for London through increasing tree cover and generations to come. improving parks and public spaces. This makes our city more beautiful, as well as providing shading Improving our ability to cope with projected and flooding protection. But in the future, these climatic shifts is a key part of my vision to adaptations will help the city cope with new ‘retrofit’ London to manage the challenges we weather patterns too. face. Whether this is through installing energy efficiency measures in buildings or providing This strategy also sets out actions to empower low and zero-emission transport to limit further Londoners to take action for themselves. We want climate change, or, as in the case here, improving to help people develop their own flood plans, and the resilience of the city to extreme weather and provide the information that will enable them to long-term climatic changes. develop the solutions that are best for them and their communities. Inherent in this goal is the drive to attract significant new investment into London, thereby With this strategy – a world-first for a city of this securing tens of thousands of jobs through the size and complexity – we are once again at the delivery of vital infrastructure, goods and services, vanguard of environmental stewardship. I thank as well as developing world-class exportable skills. everyone in advance for their involvement in the London is already one of the most resilient of the hard work ahead. ‘world cities’ in the face of climate impacts and is well-placed to be the international ‘one-stop- shop’ for adaptation – exporting our native talent and services to the rest of the world. Furthermore, changes that make us resilient in the century to come also leads to a better city today. My ambition is to put the village back into Boris Johnson the city. What I mean by this is that we can Mayor of London THE LONDON CLIMaTe CHANGE ADAPTaTION sTRATEGY © 2011 BURNS & NICE Ltd, London 7 PREFACE A strategic framework for enhancing The Mayor’s environment strategies and quality of life in London and protecting programmes are built on three policy pillars. the environment These are retrofitting London, greening London, and cleaner air for London. These The Climate Change Adaptation Strategy is part pillars aim to improve the quality of life of a series of strategies that together set out for Londoners and visitors, and to make actions and policies to make London the best the capital more attractive. The Mayor’s big city in the world. How? By improving the programmes that underpin these pillars are quality of life of Londoners and making the city delivering targeted improvements and benefits more sustainable. that Londoners can see and experience around them. They also aim to make public services The future of the planet lies in cities. In the more efficient and less of a burden on tax 1950s just 29 per cent of people lived in towns payers, whilst delivering wider environmental and cities. By the close of the 20th century benefits such as conserving water, saving that figure had increased to 47 per cent, and energy or reducing waste. by 2050 it will hit 70 per cent. There are clearly benefits to city living. People live longer, have The three ‘pillars’ and example access to better education, extensive public programmes: transport, greater healthcare provision, more social, cultural and economic opportunities Retrofitting London and a lower carbon footprint. The Mayor is Retrofitting London’s existing buildings is working to ensure that London not only retains not only crucial to tackling London’s CO2 its world city status but remains among the emissions, it also reduces energy and water best places on the planet to live, whatever your use, delivers new jobs and skills, as well as age or background. He also wants to ensure saving London businesses and homes money that the city is liveable and its development is on energy bills. Almost 80 per cent of the sustainable for future generations. 14,000 low carbon jobs that could be created per year from delivering the Mayor’s CO2 The Mayor’s ambition is to put ‘the village’ target and two thirds of the £721 million of back into the city. What this means is annual low carbon economic activity would improving the quality of life for Londoners by come from retrofitting. ensuring that we focus our efforts on delivering a cleaner and greener city with stronger and Our homes and workplaces are responsible safer communities through our work to make for nearly 80 per cent of the city’s emissions. London more sustainable. Fundamentally 80 per cent of these buildings will still be in use by 2050. The RE:NEW programme which installs a range of energy THE LONDON CLIMaTe CHANGE ADAPTaTION sTRATEGY and water efficiency measures in homes, cycling revolution in London. Additional steps enables Londoners to save money on their are being taken to tackle pollution levels at energy bills while making their homes more some of the busiest roads in central London. energy efficient. The RE:NEW demonstrations This includes utilising dust suppressant in 2010, have shown that households could technology that prevents PM10 from re- save over £150 annually through retrofitting circulating, installing green infrastructure actions. to trap pollutants and a no engine idling campaign to reduce engines running Greening London unnecessarily when stationary. Eco-marshalls The Victorians bestowed on us a city softened are also being deployed to help both monitor by trees and green spaces. Greening London and reduce the impact of taxis on air quality. builds on this legacy and aims to improve the look and feel of our city, making it more London continues to attract people and attractive whilst reducing the impact of noise businesses and therefore continues to and air pollution. Greening London also makes grow. The London Plan forecasts the city’s the city more resilient to flooding and extreme population could increase from 7.6 to 8.8 weather events, and can contribute to a million by 2031. These strategies show healthy mind and body. The Mayor through his that making London a sustainable city and RE:LEAF programme and the London Green protecting the environment does not mean we Grid has an ambition to increase tree cover by all have to be eco-warriors or make sacrifices five per cent by 2025, therefore achieving one to our standard of living. We can work to tree for every Londoner and creating a better lessen our impact on the city while at the network of interlinked, multi-functional and same time improving the environment and our high quality open and green spaces. quality of life. Cleaner air for London In a post-Olympic London, we can also grasp Air pollution is a serious health issue and the the opportunity to make the capital a digital Mayor is determined to reduce its impact. leader, an intelligent city.
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