Climate change could cost London as much as £36 billion ($50 billion) a year by the 2050s, the Mayor of London’s office said in a report.
Lost working hours, disruption to businesses and damage to infrastructure caused by extreme weather in a warmer climate are likely to reduce the capital’s GDP over the coming decades, according to the report, published by the mayor and the city’s councils.
Businesses need to adapt to climate change, the report said, by adjusting working hours, allowing employees to work from home and relaxing dress codes and uniform rules. The city’s authorities will prioritize protecting and improving parks, advertising public cool spaces during hot weather and expanding access to public toilets and water, as well as adding shading to public spaces. The report also called on Transport for London, which operates the city’s underground train network, to add air conditioning to new tube trains and look for new ways to keep carriages and platforms cool.
Climate change “is already threatening Londoners’ lives, disrupting vital services and costing our economy hundreds of millions of pounds,” Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, said in a statement on Thursday. “We must create cooler homes and buildings, greener and shadier neighbourhoods, and infrastructure that can withstand a hotter climate.”
