Picture caption: The UK villages, towns and cities most vulnerable to climate hazards
The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has highlighted 13 places in the UK which are more vulnerable than most to climate hazards. This list is found in their UK Climate Resilience Roadmap, which details how our built environment is becoming increasingly at risk from overheating, flooding, drought, wildfires and storms.
The locations on the list are marked on the accompanying map, and include London (1), Birmingham (2), Manchester (3), Peterborough (4), Nottingham (5), Leicester (6), Northampton (7), Gillingham, Kent (8), Glasgow (9), Lancaster (10), Scunthorpe (11), Weston-Super-Mare (12) and Fairbourne, Gwynedd (13).
Alarmingly, Peterborough and Fairbourne are considered likely to be uninhabitable by 2100, due to flooding.
Spotlighting specifically vulnerable locations is just one small part of the report, which has been put together to prove a clear, evidence-based strategy which enables the built environment sector to adapt to climate hazards.
The report is aimed at developers, consultants, designers, architects, urban planners, engineers, policy makers, building owners and occupiers. It sets out a four-stage framework for building climate resilience.
The research behind the roadmap outlines that the built environment should be protecting people from climate hazards. But it finds that we’re not ready for the very real risks, as extreme weather and climate-related events become more frequent.
This report emphasises that there’s no consistent approach across the industry, the costs will only increase if we don’t take action and, while we do already have the solutions, the will is not yet there to implement them.
It’s an important document which will help the sector to think more deeply about protecting people, workplaces, public spaces and essential infrastructure, as we deal with more frequent flooding, storms and heatwaves.
This is no longer an abstract threat, as 6.3 million properties in England are at risk of flooding, rising to 8 million or one in four properties by 2050. On top of that, more than 3,000 heat-related deaths were recorded in the 2022 heatwave.
It’s clear that changing weather patterns require us to rethink how we plan and build, to keep all communities safe.
If you’re interested in going deeper on this topic, then I recommend reading the report, which is available on the UKGBC website. This is not about addressing threats in isolation, but about developing a proactive approach, and changing our collective mindset so that climate resilience is treated as essential and urgent.
What do you think? Is climate resilience something that comes up in your projects? Are clients factoring in flood resilience and keeping cool during heatwaves?
Meanwhile, if you need any assistance with the structural elements of an upcoming project, please do get in touch.
