S5E01: The resilience test: is our infrastructure climate-ready?

About this episode

The episode discusses the challenges and opportunities of building climate-resilient infrastructure in the face of extreme weather and rising electricity demand.

Across the world, extreme weather is putting the systems we rely on under increasing pressure. At the same time, we’re entering a historic era of infrastructure growth. Electricity demand is rising rapidly – and around 75 per cent of the infrastructure that will exist by mid-century hasn’t yet been built. So how do we ensure the systems we depend on today – and the infrastructure we build tomorrow – are ready for a changing climate? In this first episode of Talking Infrastructure’s Season 5, our host Toby Sadler is joined by Marcene Mitchell (WWF), Jane McMillan (SP Energy Networks) and Sally Vivian (AECOM) to discuss what it will take to build climate resilience across critical infrastructure systems. They cover topics such as: Why the scale of infrastructure growth ahead creates a critical opportunity to build resilience in from the start How nature-based solutions can complement traditional engineering to reduce climate risk Why the incentives shaping infrastructure investment may need to evolve to better support resilience Why today’s infrastructure decisions could lock in resilience – or vulnerability – for decades to come Find out more over on…

People in this episode

Host: Toby Sadler

Guests: Marcene Mitchell, Jane McMillan, Sally Vivian

Topics covered

• climate resilience
• infrastructure growth
• extreme weather
• nature-based solutions
• infrastructure investment
• engineering

Keywords

• infrastructure
• climate change
• resilience
• engineering
• electricity demand
• nature-based solutions
• investment

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: WWF, SP Energy Networks, AECOM

More episodes of Talking Infrastructure

• S5E05: Protecting heritage, powering renewal · June 8, 2026 · 47 min
• S5E04: Northern Powerhouse Rail: the choices that will shape delivery · May 21, 2026 · 39 min
• S5E03: Then, now, next: lessons in building lasting communities · May 21, 2026 · 44 min
• S5E02: Private finance as a catalyst for infrastructure growth: the airport advantage · April 14, 2026 · 48 min
• S4E03 :Future-ready infrastructure: Addressing the STEM skills crisis · July 25, 2025 · 38 min
• S4E02: Could nature help solve the UK’s sewer overflow challenge? · February 27, 2025 · 37 min