EL SISTEMA DE CONTROL GUBERNAMENTAL Y LA ACTIVIDAD DISCIPLINARIA

“In the UK as a whole, climate change is becoming more perceived as a priority” (Interviewee 2, 2018). The national government adopts an active stand against climate change as it ratified various international initiatives. The country has signed the UNFCCC in 1992 and ratified it in 93, it also enacted the Paris agreement in 2016. Before Brexit, the UK collaborated with its associates in the European Union developing the European Climate Change Program in 2000 and the EU Emission Trading Scheme. However, the government stated that their “statutory

commitments under the Climate Change Act 2008 are unaffected by the decision to leave the EU” (HM Government, 2017). Moreover, the UK developed national approaches to address the issue such as the United Kingdom’s Climate Change Program. (Committee on Climate Change Official Website, n.d.). As required in the Climate Change Act, the UK government must produce a report (the National Adaptation Programme), following the development of risk assessment once every five years which sets out the objectives of the government with regard to adaptation. The report presents the government’s strategies and policies for meeting those objectives as well as the time-scales for the implementation of respective adaptation measures. The Act specifies that the developed policies and proposals must address the risks identified in the most recent conducted risk assessment (Holmes, 2018). The NAP was published in 2013, looking at various topics including: infrastructure, the built environment, businesses and local government, natural Environment, healthy and resilient communities and agriculture and forestry.

Mayor Khan of London asserts that planning for climate change is an important matter not only on a national level but also on a local scale. Consequently, he has addressed adaptation measures to reduce flood risks, cope with droughts and reduce heat risks (Official website of Mayor of London, n.d.). In an attempt to protect London from the effects of climate change and to build resilience, the city council has launched an adaptation strategy and a roadmap to resilience in a publication in 2011 (Mayor Johnson, 2011). The strategy defines priorities and actions to build resilience and manage climate related impacts based on the identification of risk hotspots in collaboration with researchers. The plan aims first at developing a further understanding of impacts and opportunities, second, at identifying options to cope with the impacts and third at developing actions supporting the management of both impacts and opportunities.

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A new “London Environment Strategy” is currently being developed, based on updated environmental data, re-affirming the city’s commitment to planning for climate change. The Greater London Authority (GLA) ran a series of workshops allowing for stakeholder

engagement, including businesses, NGOs and local communities (Interviewee 2, 2018). Moreover, the strategy’s draft was shared in 2017 for public consultation. The finalized plan is set to be published in 2018 highlighting both adaptation and mitigation approaches, setting out a vision and an inspiration for London in 2050. The newly developed strategy builds on the initial one released in 2011 while focusing on the role of technology in sustainable urban developments (Smart Cities) and on developing an approach to healthy streets (Mayor Khan, 2017).

The developed adaptation strategy is key to ensure London is well prepared for the impacts of climate change. It is tailored to the assessed local vulnerabilities on the urban level and focused on strengthening communities through increasing the share of green areas in the city (I,e: Urban parks, street vegetation, green-roofs and green walls). The strategy perceives greeneries as an opportunity for the city to limit the UHI effect and to provide a filtering layer protecting from flooding. “However, as the GLA is not a major landowner, the Mayor does not have any

significant responsibility for the day-to-day management of parks and green spaces in London.” (Mayor Khan, 2017). Therefore, the mayor finds it important to develop policies that will incite the private community to increase the share of green spaces. The adaptation strategy sets out actions to empower local initiatives to develop solutions and supports the private sector, businesses and other institutions to prepare for various challenges (Mayor Johnson, 2011). The city’s government recognizes the importance of adopting proactive approaches rather than developing reactive approaches. Nevertheless, the adaptation strategy develops a holistic perspective integrating both proactive and reactive measures. Developing preventive measures including mechanical processes and improved zoning and regulations is seen as important in order to address and prepare for long-term impacts. Likewise, ensuring the preparedness of the city through public awareness, vulnerability assessments and supportive insurance policies is crucial. Furthermore, the strategy doesn’t underestimate the significance of developing responses to recover from disasters occurring in the light of extreme weather events such as emergency plans and programs to support the defeated population following unfortunate weather events. To address the problem of overheating, the city aims at designing new projects and retro-fitting existing ones to limit the need for cooling and ventilation. The strategy aims at ensuring the use low-carbon methods in situations where cooling can’t be avoided. Moreover, the city-

government plans to identify the parts of the city with an intensified UHI effect co-tangled with social deprivation, in order to prioritize their actions and adaptation plans. The integration and use of new and smart technologies is seen as important to make well-rounded, environmentally- sound decisions. “A smart digital London” could allow for a more efficient use of the urban infrastructure such as energy and water (Mayor Khan, 2017).

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The GLA developed a strategy to manage and overcome the flooding of surface water. The plan consists of three timeframes: short term (2012-2035), medium term (2035-2070) and long term (2070-2100). It suggests developing new spatial planning approaches and local resilience

processes, as well as continuously maintaining, enhancing and improving the flood management systems in place. The strategy recognizes the importance and incites the development of

emergency planning activities while enduring flood forecasting. It supports monitoring and collecting data, building partnerships, developing frameworks, mapping and identifying ‘critical areas’, developing management plan, prioritizing projects and funding these projects (Greater London Authority, 2017).

The Thames Water corporate strategy extends to cover both demand-side and supply-side measures to address the problem of drought in London. The demand-side measures focus on consumers’ behavior through enhanced media campaigns, leakage reduction, ban of sprinklers and unattended hosepipes. The supply side-measures aim to optimize existing sources and to re- commission sources which are generally not fully utilized as their operation proved to be not cost-effective or as they do not meet certain water quality criteria (Thames Water Utilities LTD, 2016).

These various approaches are supported by the LCCP and constitute the direction and the strategy the city is developing to address the impacts of climate change on various levels. The designed strategy and intended actions allow for the participation of the community through an online discussion platform “Talk London” allowing for Londoners to have a say in

environmental issues and proposed adaptive projects. London’s adaptation strategy looks promising however, it is important to examine the status of project implementation in the city and the executed measures to build resilience.