Polish Government moves to protect its key cities from climate risks

24 January 2017 Consultancy.uk

The Polish Government, to head off the worst effects of climate change on its cities, has contracted a consortium of organisations to support its 44 largest cities prepare by, among others, creating adaption and mitigation plans and supporting their implementation. Arcadis will take part in the consortium, winning a €5.8 million two year contract.

Governments and local authorities globally, in the face of risks associated with a changing climate becoming more tangible, are seeking solutions to safe guard the long-term prosperity of their people and their livelihoods from instability.

The Polish Government, as part of its wider efforts to curb and mitigate the effects of climate change, has brought together a consortium of organisations, including the National Research Institute of Environmental Protection, the National Research Institute of Meteorology and Water Management, the Institute of Ecology in Industrialized Areas and sustainability consultancy firm Arcadis, to develop plans to mitigate damage from severe weather to its larger cities.

The consortium will work with 44 cities, whose populations are each above 100,000. These cities house around 30% of the country’s population and generate around 50% of its GDP. To safeguard the cities, the consortium will work together to identify and analyse the kinds of adaption and mitigation challenges each city may face, draft a host of plans which require local authorities to meet the challenges, indicate sources of funding and raise awareness for the need of adaptation.

The contract is worth €5.8 million to Arcadis and is scheduled to take two years to complete.

Anna Rusek, Director of the Environment and Water Divisions at Arcadis in Poland, comments, “The Plans for Adaptation to Climate Change in Urban Areas are the largest effort of adaptation to climate change in Europe to date. We are proud to have been selected for such a crucial project. We are convinced that the seamless collaboration of Arcadis with its consortium partners will enable us to develop solutions which will contribute to improved resilience of urban areas and to the better protection of their inhabitants from negative consequences of climate change.”

Pawel Salek, Deputy Minister of Environment and the Government’s Climate Policy Representative, remarks about the contract, “Cities are particularly vulnerable to the impact of climate change. The Plans for Adaptation to Climate Change in Urban Areas aim at make cities more resilient and at adapting them to the changing environment.”

Consulting rival Ramboll too has been called in to support cities meet climate risks, including San Francisco and New York.