Resilient London: confronting climate change - report launch

Wednesday 06 October 2021

Terri Wills

Climate Resilience Consultant
Waterman Group

Hattie Hartman

Sustainability Editor
Architect's Journal

Abby Crisostomo

Head of Green Infrastructure
GLA

Robert Evans

Partner
Argent

Ashley Bateson

Director
Hoare Lea

Barbara Chesi

Head of Research & Policy

The effects of climate change are hard to ignore. The recent flooding affecting London this summer – and with even more devastating effects in parts of Europe such as Germany – are a wakeup call to put climate resilience higher up on the agenda.

According to climate predictions, London is expected to experience hotter drier summers and warmer wetter winters over the next three decades, with more frequent extreme events such as heavier rainfalls, alongside other global threats such as sea levels rising. Summer temperatures are predicted to resemble those of Barcelona by 2050 with temperatures in the city as much as 10° higher than in the surrounding countryside due to the urban heat island effect.

Is London’s built asset able to cope with changes in weather patterns and temperature? Due we have the right infrastructure in place to deal with extreme rainfalls and flooding? Are our buildings designed to cope well with wormer temperatures? And are we taking into consideration climate resilience when designing and building new places or improving existing ones?

The NLA research paper Resilient London: confronting climate change reviews the status of climate resilience strategies and actions plans across the capital, the ability and skills of the built environment industry on building and designing for a changing climate, and the barriers that we are facing to implement effective resilience approaches in the capital.

PROGRAMME

00:00 Welcome from Chair
Barbara Chesi, Head of Research & Policy, NLA

03:36 Resilient London - key findings
Hattie Hartman, Sustainability Editor, Architect's Journal

16:51 Climate resilience
Terri Wills, Climate Resilience Consultant, Waterman Group

23:14 Thames Estuary
Abby Crisostomo, Project Director, Environment Agency

31:14 Are buildings built today fit for future weather conditions?
Ashley Bateson, Partner & Head of Sustainability, Hoare Lea

36:57 Health and Wellbeing at King's Cross
Robert Evans, Partner, Argent

41:50 Panel Discussion
Speakers above

NLA's Youtube Channel

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT

Insight

Resilient London: confronting climate change

In the lead-up to COP26 in November 2021, this report examines the role that London as a world leading city is playing in mitigating climate change, and preparing for future climate events, with a showcase of key projects and initiatives being led in the city. Read this and more by downloading the report now.