Sadiq Khan declines to provide additional climate funding for London

The London Climate Change Partnership says it receives only £62,000 a year, which it claims includes funding for only one member of staff

London

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has declined to give additional funding to the London Climate Change Partnership (LCCP), which says it receives only £62,000 a year.

The organisation claims this funds only one staff member and says it requires more, especially since a climate emergency has been declared.

The funding increase for the group responsible for identifying climate vulnerabilities for the capital city was featured as a key recommendation in Green Party Politician and London Assembly Member Caroline Russell’s recent report on the risks that could be posed by warming temperatures and a more extreme climate.

The report said two-thirds of London flats could experience overheating by the 2030s, warned health risks and related diseases would rise with temperature and highlighted that several underground stations would flood.

Mr Khan noted the importance of the LCCP in working with the health, food, transport and emergency service sectors but didn’t offer more money.

Ms Russell also suggests the climate adaptation policies and targets in the Mayor’s London Environment Strategy should better reflect the risks identified for London in a 1.5°C warming scenario by the early 2030s and says more research is needed in terms of how housing, transport, emergency services, utilities, workplaces and schools might be affected.

She said: “We are in a climate emergency and London needs to be prepared for climate breakdown but our key body responsible for this is underfunded.

“We need this for Londoners, our city should be working hard to be more resilient, not mopping up after the floods we know are coming, whether in three years or 30.

“My report showed serious gaps in research on the impacts of climate change and one of the key recommendations was that the LCCP should be properly resourced to fill these gaps.”

At the Mayor’s Question Time Sadiq Khan told Ms Russell: “We’re not going to directly increase their budget immediately but we are going to continue helping them and scaling up the work that they’re doing.”

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