Climate change in the City

The City of London Corporation is the first UK local authority to develop a climate change adaptation strategy identifying and prioritising the key risks posed by climate change.

Simon Mills, sustainable development and environmental co-coordinator

Simon Mills, the City of London's sustainable development and environmental co-coordinator, believes that every local authority has a responsibility to respond to the challenges of climate change. 'Local authorities have a fundamental duty of care to ensure that local infrastructure – including parks and open spaces – are capable of adapting to climate change,' he explains. 'It is cheaper to act now than to wait until the situation is desperate.'

Protecting London's green assets

The square mile of the City of London is one of the oldest democratic institutions in the world. It manages a third of London's open space, the majority of which is beyond its authority boundary. It also owns and manages land on the outskirts of London that was purchased in the nineteenth century to contain creeping urban development and provide 'green lungs' for the city's residents.

'The City was an early pioneer in securing open space as a vital asset for London in the nineteenth century,' says Simon. 'As the climate changes, we have a great opportunity to use and adapt our green assets for London's benefit.'

Protecting open spaces

The strategy development process started with a comprehensive risk assessment of the Corporation's business operations. 'For London's parks we identified a wide range of risks, including flooding, drought, water restrictions, fires on scrub and heath land and changes to the egg-laying dates of birds and the first leafing and flowering dates of plants and trees.'

The risk assessment identified drought and the consequent risks of fire and damage to flora and fauna as the greatest dangers for the City's open spaces and the adaptation strategy makes a number of recommendations for minimising these risks. These recommendations include ensuring that irrigation methods use water efficiently, introducing planting schemes that provide shade and cooling, and working with the emergency services to examine the relationship between weather conditions and fire risk in open spaces and parks.

The Corporation consulted a wide range of stakeholders during the development of the adaptation strategy. Internal and external service providers, local businesses and neighbouring authorities provided evidence and other input to help shape the strategy.

A coordinated approach

The climate change adaptation strategy will embed the principles of planting and managing for climate change within the London biodiversity action plan, the City biodiversity action plan and the various habitat action plans. As much of its open space is outside of the square mile, the Corporation plans to work closely with other local authorities and stakeholders to ensure the work is coordinated effectively.

Outside of London, the Corporation has already worked with Buckingham County Council to develop a transportation strategy for Burnham Beeches as well as a visitor centre for the ancient woodland. The visitor centre uses the latest environmentally friendly materials and techniques such as grass roofs, green oak cladding, light tubes and water-saving devices.

Wider strategic

The Corporation's work on climate change and open spaces sits within a wider climate change strategy that spans all the authority's activities. 'We've signed the Nottingham Declaration to show our commitment to systematically tackling climate change issues and have integrated climate change across all of our services as part of our comprehensive performance management programme,' explains Simon.

The authority is taking steps to reduce its carbon footprint and has established an energy committee to drive change and monitor progress. The City monitors the energy and water consumption of its major buildings and planning applications require sustainability and energy statements as well as environmental impact assessments.