The Bebrit project is about learning, comparison and exchange to facilitate the pace of adaptation to extreme heat and ensure the most vulnerable people and places are protected. Resources are an important part of this and here we will share a broad range of materials (policy documents, reports, briefings, academic articles, media and social media, films, photographs etc).

Rapid Review of Belgian Extreme Heat and Climate-related Policies (2024)

Cities are central actors in local and regional adaptation planning when responding to extreme heat. To be able to respond effectively to the increased frequency and intensity of heatwaves, cities around the world are updating existing or producing new City Heat Action, Climate and Adaptation Plans. Planning an effective, robust, and flexible response to heatwaves is vital to reduce or eradicate heat-related excess mortalities. The presence of such policies at the city level provides an indication of the level of planning in place therefore, as part of the BeBrit Extreme Heat Risk project, Silent Spring Consultants conducted a desk-based rapid review of heat and climate-related policies to gain a better understanding of the local level of [un]preparedness to extreme heat at the city-level in Belgium. The research questions guiding the review were:

  • What type of heat and climate-related policies are present or absent at the city level in Belgium?
  • Are there similarities and differences in presence and absence of policies?

By ‘heat and climate-related policies’ we mean policies directly for extreme heat events and where we would expect mention of extreme heat for example, climate and adaptation plans.

Rapid Review Report Belgium Final 28 Sep 2024 Pdf
PDF – 798,7 KB 30 downloads

Evidence Report

This evidence report, published in February 2024, is  based on research conducted by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, PCAN, Silent Spring Consultants and the British Red Cross in England during the 2022 heatwaves.

Citation:

Howarth, C., McLoughlin, N., Armstrong, A., Murtagh, E., Mehryar, S., Beswick, A., Ward, B., Ravishankar, S. and Stuart-Watt, A. (2024) Turning up the heat: learning from the summer 2022 heatwaves in England to inform UK policy on extreme heat, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Sciences, UK. 

 

The research was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council via the Place-based Climate Action Network (PCAN) (grant number ES/S008381/1) and the LSE Urgency Fund

Policy Brief and Annex

Howarth C, Armstrong A, McLoughlin N, Murtagh E, Stuart-Watt A (2023) The 2022 heatwaves: England’s response and future preparedness for heat risk. London: Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Howarth C, Armstrong A, McLoughlin N, Murtagh E, Stuart-Watt A (2023) The 2022 heatwaves: England’s response and future preparedness for heat risk. Annex: Review of current heatwave policy and practice across sectors and themes, London: Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science.


 

 

We will be adding to this page as the project progresses but if you would like to contribute to the resources, then please contact: info@silentspringconsultants.com