City of London Corporation: Resourcing adaptation work

This case study was collected by London Councils as part of their London Leading: Case Studies in Climate Resilience Leadership report, which showcases how London boroughs are making climate adaptation a priority and embedding action within councils.

The City of London Environmental Resilience Team is responsible for two adaptation workstreams at the City Corporation including the programme to mainstream climate resilience across services. It comprises of a team of three resilience officers and a lead officer that work in collaboration with teams across the councils and are based in the Planning and Development Directorate.

Climate and resilience risks, such as flooding and overheating, are included in the City Corporation’s top identified risks that require mitigating actions. This prompted the creation of a team focussed on a response. The team originated from the officers responsible for flooding statutory duties (approximately 0.7 full-time equivalent) and have subsequently expanded to take on more responsibility as part of the Climate Action Strategy. 

Utilising an existing budget the team have been able to demonstrate their value, bring in additional funding and justifying increasing the staff resource. Having a team in place during the initiation of the strategy ensured that adaptation was considered as a core element of climate action and funded as a corporate priority. 

Having dedicated resources in place enables the team to engage with internal and external stakeholders on adaptation risks and requirements in the City. Each member brings their own expertise which enables a broader approach to be taken to building resilience. This includes a civil engineer, ecologist, geographer, and emergency planner. 

Whilst currently funded as part of the Climate Action Strategy, longer-term funding for the team remains unsecured. Resilience needs to become business as usual across the organisation but the need for a team long-term is yet to be agreed. Recruitment and retention in a growing industry has caused delays in project implementation but is offset by the wealth of internal knowledge. 

Organisations need resourced capacity to understand their resilience challenge, mainstream learning and collaborate with others.

This case study was collected by London Councils as part London Leading: Case Studies in Climate Resilience Leadership report. You can view the full report on the London Councils website.

Environmental Resilience 
[email protected]