Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg’s powerful climate change speech to the United Nations (UN) in New York recently heralded a fundamental shift in the green movement, as she declared: “People are suffering, people are dying, entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth.”
Indeed, a major new UN report (www.is.gd/inesad) has confirmed that climate change is devastating the planet’s seas and frozen regions. According to a UN panel of scientists, ice is melting, waters are rising, and species are moving habitat because of human activities. And, it adds, the loss of permanently frozen lands threatens to unleash even more carbon, hastening the decline.
The UK government has responded to the pressing ecological crisis by accepting a new target for the UK – net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 – proposed in a report from the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), an independent public body, that advises the UK governments and devolved Parliaments on tackling climate change (www.is.gd/fovaci). If other countries follow the UK, says the CCC, there’s a 50/50 chance of staying below the recommended 1.5°C temperature rise by 2100.
ACTION
According to the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), a net zero emissions target will deliver on the commitment that the UK made by signing the Paris Agreement. “It is achievable with known technologies, alongside improvements in people’s lives, and within the expected economic cost that Parliament accepted when it legislated the existing 2050 target for an 80% reduction from 1990 [in the Climate Change Act 2008].
“However, this is only possible if clear, stable and well-designed policies to reduce emissions further are introduced across the economy without delay.” CIBSE has released its own climate change action plan (www.is.gd/uwefeq), but the rest of the engineering sector, too, is playing its part in this critical endeavour.
An example of this is that several large construction consultants and structural engineers, including Aecom, Arup, Atkins, BuroHappold, Mott MacDonald and WSP, have signed declarations entitled UK Building Services Declare (www.is.gd/ligilo), UK Structural Engineers Declare (www.is.gd/nariti), and UK Civil Engineers Declare (www.is.gd/igaxux). They have committed to 11 action points to achieve them:
1 Raise awareness of the climate and biodiversity emergencies and the urgent need for action among clients, collaborators and supply chains
2 Advocate faster change towards regenerative design practices and a higher governmental funding priority to support this
3 Establish climate and biodiversity mitigation principles as a key measure of industry success: demonstrated through awards, prizes and listings
4 Share knowledge and research to that end on an open-source basis
5 Evaluate all new projects against the aspiration to contribute positively to mitigating climate breakdown and encourage our clients to adopt this approach
6 Upgrade existing buildings for extended use as a more carbon-efficient alternative to demolition and new build, whenever there is a viable choice
7 Include lifecycle costing, whole life carbon modelling and post-occupancy evaluation as part of the basic scope of work, to reduce both embodied and operational resource use
8 Adopt more regenerative design principles in practice, with the aim of providing structural engineering design that achieves the standard of net zero carbon
9 Collaborate with clients, architects, engineers and contractors to further reduce construction waste
10 Accelerate the shift to low embodied carbon materials
11 Minimise wasteful use of resources in engineering design.
This formidable call to action follows the successful ‘Architects Declare’ campaign from earlier this year, which saw 17 of the biggest architecture practices in the UK join forces to take action on climate change.
The group representing building services contractors – the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) – has thrown its support behind the industry-led declarations. BESA has urged its members to add their names as signatories. Its CEO, David Frise, says: “These declarations are both momentous and timely. Following the recent net-zero commitment by the government, it is very encouraging to see such ambitious commitments being driven by the industry itself.”
However, he warns, the challenge is to translate it into meaningful action. “So far, much of the debate has been led by the design professions, but it is crucial that those actually responsible for delivering practical solutions are included and able to take the lead. Contractors are ready and willing to play their part and we will be encouraging all BESA members to sign up to the declaration and embed these principles in their daily working practices.”
This follows recent comments from new BESA president John Norfolk who weighed into the national conversation on climate change noting that: “BESA and its membership are in the vanguard of zero carbon action.
“Our work as building engineers is not just a way of tackling climate change but can also transform the wellbeing of thousands of families by improving the quality of the built environment.”
The only question remaining is: will the call for action be followed by actual action?
More information
●The Infrastructure Carbon Review sets out the commercial, as well as environmental and social benefits, of cutting carbon: www.is.gd/hofoso
● Mission Possible is a document from Mott MacDonald that sets out the steps required to keep climate change to under 2°C: www.is.gd/gehije
● PAS 2080 is the first international standard for managing infrastructure carbon; it provides a framework for how to do it: www.is.gd/esusax
● Climate Change and Professional Responsibility: A Declaration of Helsinki for Engineers, by Dr Rob Lawlor and Helen Morley: www.is.gd/eluzon