Climate Resilience Roundtable

Climate resilience in the UK’s built environment is becoming increasingly critical as climate change intensifies risks that threaten communities, infrastructure, and economic stability. Both urban and rural areas are experiencing more frequent and severe weather events—such as flooding, extreme heat, and coastal erosion—creating an urgent need for strengthened resilience.

The UK government’s commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 requires not only a reduction in emissions but also robust climate adaptation measures to protect the built environment from escalating threats. With a combination of aging infrastructure, dense urban centres, and diverse regional vulnerabilities, building resilience requires strategic and proactive adaptation. Recent updates to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and evolving standards around climate adaptation emphasise making resilience a priority, especially for at risk and aging assets.

This is a summary of a roundtable delivered in partnership between Constructing Excellence and the Construction Clients Leadership Group, which identified key challenges and explored practical solutions, to lay a foundation for future resilience of the built environment across the UK. This roundtable offered a collaborative forum for addressing these pressing challenges and exploring innovative approaches to build a resilient built-environment that can support both current and future needs.

https://constructingexcellence.org.uk/resilience-the-cinderella-of-climate-action/