We were thrilled to be involved in a number of events this week for London Climate Action Week, providing expert insight on panel discussions, and showcasing one of our own initiatives. Below are some highlights from the week.
Infrastructure Pathways
On July 1, we hosted a workshop session on Infrastructure Pathways, a new ICSI initiative, led by The Resilience Shift and in partnership with Arup. The initiative brings together stakeholders from across the infrastructure lifecycle to map existing guidance and provide line of sight for practitioners to embed climate resilience within infrastructure.
Speakers from the London Climate Change Partnership, Network Rail, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), and UCL joined us for a roundtable discussion on the work to date.
The discussion focussed on the need for collaborative and accessible guidance for practitioners that embraces systems thinking across the infrastructure lifecycle. It also explored the main challenges to embedding and retaining resilience value in infrastructure projects.
Panellist Abhilash Panda, Head of Infrastructure Resilience at UNDRR, said:
“In today’s interconnected world, one hazard can have cascading effects across economic, social, environmental and political systems… Infrastructure does not operate in a standalone manner but is actually a system of systems. A normal and continuous revision of critical services depends on the level of resilience of the whole network.”
You can view a recording of the session here and read more about the Infrastructure Pathways project here.
Policy preparedness for climate resilience of the energy sector
Caroline Field, Head of Energy at The Resilience Shift, joined a discussion hosted by the IEA on how policy measures can enhance climate resilience of the energy sector and build a resilient future. Caroline shared the contribution that The Resilience Shift is making in this space through the development of guidance, tools and communities of practice, in particular the Infrastructure Pathways initiative. She also introduced the Energy Resilience Framework, developed by our founding partner, Arup. Lastly, Caroline discussed the importance of sharing knowledge and introduced our new global network of grid operators that we are convening to tackle resilience and decarbonisation.
Read more about the session here.
Global factors influencing the future of the tidal Thames
Our Technical Director, Juliet Mian, participated in an expert panel hosted by Port of London Authority, looking at global trends and the future of the tidal Thames. The panel considered the influence of trends including rapidly developing maritime technology, climate change, resilience and changes in global cities driven by the pandemic.
Juliet said: “Ports are critical gateways in our modern, globally interconnected world. They are where land and sea activities intersect as part of critical supply chains, keeping communities supplied with essentials. Ports have a leading role in the transition to net-zero emissions, and their resilience in a highly uncertain future will be more important than ever.”
