LONDON Mayor Sadiq Khan says the Government was to blame for failing to fund improvements to the Capital’s infrastructure to cope with heat waves caused by climate change.
He told GB News: “It wasn’t built for temperatures of 40 degrees.
“Housing isn’t built for that, places of work aren’t built for that, transport wasn’t built for that.
“In the short term, we’ve got to make sure that we adapt our city to deal with the symptoms of climate change.
“In the long term, we’re going to tackle climate change, in the medium term as well, to sort that out in the short term as well.
“In London, the stuff we’re building going forward is all future proof, so the new Elizabeth Line trains, air conditioned, new buses have a cooling system, new buildings are required to have air cooling systems so they’re cooling in summer, warm in winter.”
Mr Khan added: “The problem is the older homes, the older places of work, the older public transport, so we’re doing what we can with the limited funds we’ve got to retrofit to adapt, but we need support from the Government.
“We can’t do it ourselves so there’s only one body that’s got the finances to adapt the buildings where people live, adapt the buildings where people work, adapt the Victorian tubes, to the old buses, and that’s the Government.
“We’re lobbying the Government for more support because the bad news is, these heatwaves are going to happen every ten, twenty, thirty years, they are happening every two or three years.”
He was asked if he had confidence that the new Tory Prime Minister will commit to a goal of net zero for carbon emissions.
He told GB News: “No confidence at all that any of these candidates take the issue of zero carbon seriously.
“They’re kicking the can down the road.”
Mr Khan spoke after delivering a speech at an international climate change summit where he vowed to make a safe, green and livable future for all.
He has been aiming to clean up London’s air and tackle pollution in the capital, despite a backlash against some of his plans.
Mr Khan wants to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone in London to cover other areas just on the outskirts of the Capital.
The expansion will come into effect by August next year.
