The 2022 Lancet Countdown report concluded that “insufficient climate change adaptation efforts have left health systems vulnerable to climate change-related hazards”. What is your assessment of the risks to public health in London posed by climate breakdown, and what action will the GLA Group Public Health Unit take to address these?

Despite our ambitious targets for net zero, a level of unavoidable climate change is now ‘locked in’.  I will continue to implement the policies and objectives in my London Environment Strategy on climate change adaptation, with a focus on protecting critical infrastructure and those at risk from climate-related hazards.

The GLA Group Public Health Unit will provide specialist support to ensure that our policies and interventions on climate and the environment also protect health and reduce health inequalities. The Unit’s work will be guided by our London-wide climate risk maps which identified communities at greatest risk of climate related harms. Working closely with the recently established London Climate and Health Network, the Unit will bring together leaders from across the health and care system to focus on the challenges of climate and public health and to establish of set of priority actions to increase health system resilience.