London’s burning! Is climate resilience the new goldmine?

Few people realise that during the record 2022 heatwave, wildfires swept through London’s suburbs and destroyed nearly 40 homes - an almost unthinkable scene for the UK. Drawing on voices often overlooked in the climate debate, David exposes how woefully unprepared Britain is for the accelerating extremes already reshaping our weather. He also cuts to the heart of what this means for the business community, with this new age of climate volatility bringing both risk and extraordinary opportunity.

Join us for this thought‑provoking lecture built on vivid stories from everyday UK citizens living the realities of a changing climate and forcing us to consider: could profit be the key to adaptation?

David Shukman

David Shukman was the BBC’s first Science Editor and led its coverage of the environment and climate for nearly twenty years. His pioneering live reports from around the world established him as one of Britain’s leading climate journalists, with Sir David Attenborough hailing him as “a leader in raising awareness about the climate emergency”.

Today, David serves as an advisor to Oxford University’s Smith School for Enterprise and the Environment and is a Visiting Professor in Practice at the Grantham Research Institute at LSE. He is a highly regarded speaker and consultant as well as an influential author, with his forthcoming fourth book, The Response: A Story of Fire and Flood in Britain’s New World of Extremes, publishing in May 2026.

Adrian Fernando

The annual Fernando Lecture is held in memory of Adrian Fernando, COO of EcoSecurities Group, a company conceived to tackle climate change by using market mechanisms to properly price the environment. The series fosters discussion of the role of business & economics in solving the world’s environmental challenges.

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