London Climate Action Week (LCAW) continues to grow as a global moment for climate ambition and it's the largest event of its kind in Europe attracting some 75,000 attendees across some 1,000 events across London.
Government, business, academia and more deliver a wide range of events, bringing organisations together to drive action, with some activities also available for the public. For the Met Office, last week’s events were an opportunity not only to share our science, but to listen, connect and reflect on how climate intelligence is being used – and where it needs to go next.
Coincidentally, LCAW fell on the 50th anniversary of the start of the iconic heatwave of summer 1976 and at a time when we issued red extreme heat National Severe Weather Warnings. Read more on this in our previous blog post.
In today’s blog post, Met Office experts share their reflections on LCAW events.
A clear shift towards adaptation and resilience
One of the strongest themes emerging this year was a noticeable shift in focus.
Theresa Lober, Senior Climate Economist, reflecting on multiple finance roundtables across the week, noted that, “many more events on climate finance seemed to focus on adaptation and resilience compared to previous years, with fewer events focused on mitigation”. This included a Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) roundtable event attended by Chair of the Met Office board, Simon Thompson. This event provided us with an opportunity to talk about the availability of high-quality, decision-useful climate data as an enabler of adaptation finance.
This reflects a growing recognition that climate impacts are already being felt, and that decision-makers need to plan for both acute shocks, such as floods and wildfires, and chronic stresses like heat and water scarcity.
“Climate risk is escalating and becoming systemic,” explains Professor Jason Lowe OBE, Principal Fellow Applied & Climate Science. “This has implications for financial stability, infrastructure, businesses and communities, and conversations at events such as the Lloyds breakfast roundtable focused on how to turn these risks into investable opportunities, unlocking resilience while delivering long-term value.”
“It was also acknowledged that there is a need to consider climate alongside ecosystem decline and other whole-system challenges and change, noted Dr Kirsty Lewis, Science Fellow.
“Risk, resilience and national security were all part of the discussions at a Defra event on nature security, highlighting the importance of considering compound risks and the critical role Met Office climate intelligence plays in understanding these”, explained Professor Stephen Belcher CBE, Chief Scientist.
Kirsty also attended events related to climate security which had an increased profile at LCAW this year. The recognition of the changing climate as a security threat was accompanied by calls for greater consideration of the influence of climate across critical national security systems.
The growing importance of climate data – and making it usable
Throughout the week, there was strong demand for high-quality climate data and science, particularly across shorter 5-10 year time horizons.
At the NatWest Insight Exchange, Scientist Dr Lauren Burton was representing Met Office teams working on the delivery of climate services. “There is an appetite for using climate data,” she explained, “but it needs to be more readily applied, reinforcing the need to bridge the gap between research and real-world use.”
This was echoed across multiple sessions, where participants stressed that while modelling capabilities are improving, data is not yet sufficiently standardised or accessible to fully support decision-making at scale.
The message was clear: the challenge is not just producing climate science, but ensuring it is usable, interoperable and trusted by those making decisions.
This is where the Met Office plays a critical role, translating cutting-edge science into practical insight.
Making climate change real and relevant
Beyond technical discussions, LCAW also highlighted an important communications challenge.
Tabitha Aldrich-Smith, Associate Director Communications and Engagement, reflected that, “we’re not only in a decisive decade for climate change, we also need a decisive change in how we talk about it.”
Climate change is often framed in long-term, global terms, but people experience it in the here and now. “There was a strong call to connect climate science to everyday experience, linking it to issues like health, nature, wellbeing and daily life,” explained Tabitha. “There is also an opportunity to frame climate action more positively: as a chance to build healthier, fairer and more resilient communities.”
During the week itself, extreme heat provided a powerful reminder of this lived reality, reinforcing both the urgency and immediacy of climate impacts.
Strengthening partnerships for global impact
A key milestone during the week was the announcement of our strengthened strategic partnership with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
As explored in our recent blog on turning science into action, this partnership reflects growing demand for climate science that supports real-world decisions. By combining the Met Office’s scientific expertise with FCDO’s global reach, we can help strengthen early warning systems, support humanitarian response and build resilience in some of the world’s most vulnerable regions.
Theresa also highlighted how engagement during LCAW helped open up further opportunities to connect with international finance bodies and philanthropies, a reminder that partnership is central to scaling impact.
Looking ahead
London Climate Action Week 2026 showed both how far we have come and how much more there is to do.
As Theresa observed, conversations across the week were “notably more sophisticated than even a year ago”, signalling real progress in how sectors are engaging with adaptation and resilience.
But delivering a resilient future will require continued progress:
- Better integration of climate data into decision-making
- Stronger alignment between science, finance and policy
- Greater focus on real-world impacts over the next 5-10 year time scales and lived experience
- Scaled investment in adaptation and resilience
For the Met Office, the role is clear. We will continue to advance the science, strengthen partnerships and ensure that climate intelligence is not only world-leading but usable, relevant and impactful.
