Climate Change Resilience and Adaptation

Overview

This survey is to get your views on how to make the borough as prepared as possible for the impacts of climate change.

Have you experienced your home or place of work being too hot in recent years, or maybe you have been flooded after some heavy rain?

Tell us about your experiences to help us make our draft strategy as helpful as possible for all of Southwark.

Why we need this strategy

The climate emergency remains the challenge of our time, and time is running out. The best action we can take is to cut our emissions as quickly as possible. We already have a plan to do this, with an ambition to be a carbon neutral borough by 2030.

However, we also know that our climate is changing now, and it is changing fast. In its most recent report (March 2023), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) made its starkest warning yet on the urgency and the scale of action. The report showed not enough progress is being made by world leaders and estimated that current policies would see global temperature increases exceed 1.5ºC, reaching around 3.2ºC by 2100. National projections show we are locked-in to experiencing extreme weather such as heat and flooding, risks to our water and food supply as well as new pests and diseases.

We have to respond to the science and act urgently to prepare Southwark for the future. Our draft strategy is the first step towards doing this, it will get Southwark climate ready by creating a framework to protect our communities, homes, infrastructure and environment.

It is a strategy for the whole of the borough, and sets out how we will:

• Future-proof the borough’s buildings, streets and critical infrastructure.
• Work with others to prepare, plan and respond to challenges and shocks.
• Improve the borough at the same time, such as by improving air quality and biodiversity and reducing inequalities.