London will face temperatures of 45C ‘for the foreseeable future’, warns Mayor Sadiq Khan | London

London

Mayor says interim climate report paints worrying picture of underground metro system not fit for purpose, and retirement homes and schools that are too hot

London faces the “incredibly worrying” prospect of temperatures reaching 45C due to the worsening climate crisis, its mayor, Sadiq Khan, told the Guardian at a climate summit in New York where governments came together to discuss how best to deal with it. with scorching temperatures.

Khan said an independent interim report on climate resilience for London had found the capital could experience several days of temperatures of 45C “for the foreseeable future”, which could potentially disrupt various basic functions of the city. “This means the metro is not fit for purpose, some homes are too hot during the day, nursing homes and schools too,” Khan said.

“This means we now have to adapt to these temperatures. Now is the time for those who have been slow to act to wake up and smell the coffee, because it is happening now. It’s now and it’s happening to us.

London’s mayor said he had ensured more shade trees were planted and air conditioning installed on buses, but more government support was needed to help cities s adapt to the climate crisis, criticizing the UK Conservative government for failing to provide green stimulus measures similar to the US Inflation Reduction Act to help renovate buildings and boost energy sector employment renewable.

“We’re learning the expertise of other cities, but we can’t pretend we’re not behind because the UK has been slow to catch up,” Khan said from New York, ahead of the annual general assembly of the UN and a special climate summit this week.

“We have to throw everything at this. We received very little support from the government. The fact that the Prime Minister [Rishi Sunak] will not come to the UN General Assembly and may not go to Cop28, that says a lot.”

The London climate study was launched in June, almost a year after the British capital experienced an extraordinary, record-breaking heatwave. Temperatures exceeded 40C (104F) in London for the first time on record in July last year, prompting school closures, canceled hospital operations and a busiest day for London firefighters since the Second World War, when they fought many fires. , including wildfires on the outskirts of the city.

Temperatures of 40C were previously almost unthinkable for the UK’s temperate climates, with Professor Hannah Cloke, of the University of Reading, declaring at the time of the heatwave: “The all-time temperature record for the UK n he wasn’t just beaten, he was completely erased. Even as a climate scientist who studies this stuff, it’s scary.

But the reality of the worsening climate crisis will increase the risk of even higher temperatures in the future. London faces the possibility of enduring temperatures of 45C, as well as other risks such as flooding, as the world continues to warm, according to Emma Howard Boyd, chair of the climate study and former President of the British Environment Agency.

“Forty-five degrees Celsius is something we could see in years to come,” Howard Boyd, who will publish a full set of recommendations when the review concludes in December, told the Guardian.

“Until last year, few people really thought we were going to experience temperatures of 40°C. So we need this review to understand how we can keep the city thriving in terms of people’s health and the working environment, even under these higher temperatures. All scientists tell us is that Europe is warming faster than anywhere else.”

Khan is in New York at the start of a week-long climate summit involving many businesses, governments and environmental groups, which will run alongside the United Nations General Assembly and will include a gathering of more than 100 national governments aiming to raise the global standard. ambition to reduce emissions. The UN has warned that the world is far from meeting targets that would prevent disastrous climate change.

Meanwhile, New York City itself will impose the first congestion charge on cars in any U.S. city next year, a move its supporters say will help reduce emissions, combat deadly air pollution and reduce severe traffic congestion that costs New Yorkers 117 hours of travel time. their time, on average, each year.

The new congestion charge system will apply to Manhattan cars below 60th Street and could cost up to $23 per trip, with funding going to New York’s struggling Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to help it modernize its much-used but frayed metro and train network. the buses. Technology to scan cars as they enter the area is already being implemented.

The plan was approved by the federal government in June, but has faced fierce opposition from some politicians, Uber drivers and business owners who say it is unfair to those who commute in car. “We have to put our foot down to protect the people of New Jersey,” Phil Murphy, the governor of the neighboring state of New Jersey, who is suing to stop the project, said in July. “We are not going to allow this ill-conceived proposal to be fast-tracked.”

The controversy has resonance for Khan, who presides over a city that has had congestion pricing since 2003 and recently angered some residents by extending its ultra-low emissions zone (or Ulez) to the whole of Greater London , forcing people to pay a tax. daily rate if they drive a car that does not comply with pollution standards.

Negative reaction to the Ulez expansion was largely blamed on Labor’s failure to take Boris Johnson’s old seat of Uxbridge in July, putting pressure on Khan to scale back the project .

“It is simply not sustainable that 10 million people in London travel by car. [or] in New York so 9 million people can get around by car,” Khan said. “You have to listen to people’s real concerns and try to address them, while being aware that there is a vocal minority supported by special interests who oppose certain things.

“Cities must put in place policies that encourage people to use alternatives to the car. I understand the reasons why New York wants to do this, what they will have to do is make sure they have alternatives in place.

The MTA, which oversees congestion pricing in New York, said it was interested in London, as well as other cities that charge drivers in urban centers like Stockholm and Milan, to design its own congestion pricing. “Congestion is bad and it’s gotten even worse over the last 10 to 15 years,” said MTA special advisor Juliette Michaelson. “We know that the best way to manage congestion is through pricing, the effect of which is immediate and lasting over time.”

Despite opposition to the initiative, transit advocates say New York is finally on the verge of meeting the demands of activists who have pushed for congestion pricing for decades. “It took a while,” said Philip Miatkowski, senior director of research and policy at Transportation Alternatives. “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make New York City better. We really want it to be a success, like in London, so that it can be copied in other cities in the United States. »