Climate change: "The built environment is part of the problem, but through the potential of planning, architecture and design, it is also a crucial part of the solution"

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Architects ‘crucial’ part of solution, UN climate summit told

4 DECEMBER, 2018 BY GREG PITCHER, WILL HURST

The president of the International Union of Architects (UIA) has urged political leaders to join forces with architects to help turn ‘unsustainable’ built environment practices around and halt runaway climate change

Thomas Vonier, who heads the UIA, an organisation representing 3 million architects worldwide and recognised by UNESCO, said architecture and design were a ‘crucial part of the solution’ to problems created by humans.

Vonier made his statement to coincide with the COP24 – formally known as the 24th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change – which has been billed as the follow-up to the 2015 Paris agreement and is taking place in Katowice, Poland.

Yesterday (December 3), naturalist David Attenborough addressed the summit and warned that the collapse of civilisation and the natural world was looming unless politicians act now.

The UIA is represented at the event by directors Ishtiaque Zahir Titas and Natalie Mossin.

In his statement, Vonier said architects must pledge to ’build better cities for the benefit of all, while conserving our resources and using them wisely’.

He said: ‘Current practices in the built environment are unsustainable. The built environment is a major consumer of energy and natural resources and a massive producer of waste. Furthermore, how we build can exacerbate inequalities and affect health.

’The built environment is part of the problem, but through the potential of planning, architecture and design, it is also a crucial part of the solution … architectural solutions are already there, contributing to sustainable communities and quality of life.

’We call upon governments, civil society and the private sector to help secure tighter government regulation, public demand for sustainable solutions and the investment in new knowledge throughout the private sector and across the value chain of the building sector. The world urgently needs effective solutions. We need designs for cities and buildings that improve all lives, not only the lives of the wealthy or fortunate.’

Vonier called on architects to:

• Provide basic services for all people
• Ensure equal opportunity
• Promote cleaner cities
• Strengthen cities and settlements against disasters
• Accommodate refugees, migrants and internally displaced persons
• Promote safe and accessible public spaces
• Assist the poorest among us to build better housing
• Reduce the natural resources used in the building industry

Julie Hirigoyen, chief executive of the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC), said it whole-heartedly backed the UIA’s new pledge and warned that architects who were slow to act on it would be ‘left behind’.

She said: ’We agree that society, government and the private sector must work together to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The need for businesses to demonstrate leadership on a range of environmental and social issues has never been more pressing.

’As the creative force behind our built environment, architects have a unique role to ensure that better outcomes for both people and planet arise from their designs. Ultimately clients will demand this of the profession, but those that wait to be led by client demand are likely to be left behind.’

RIBA president Ben Derbyshire also welcomed Vonier’s call-to-arms on what he called ‘one of the biggest challenges our profession faces’.

’We need to ramp up international collaboration to halt the impact of the built environment on our planet,’ Derbyshire said. ’As part of the UKGBC industry task group, the RIBA is developing an industry-led definition for net zero carbon buildings. This initiative will inform project designs, reporting initiatives, planning requirements and building regulations.

’We encourage architects and the wider built environment sector to contribute directly to the UN Sustainable Development Goals by designing sustainable buildings and retrofitting existing stock that is fit for the future.’

A government spokesperson said: ’The UK is a world leader in the fight against climate change and environmental protection is at the heart of our revised planning rulebook, setting clear expectations for future developments such as housing. With greater protection for wildlife, air quality and ancient woodlands, these new planning rules complement the ambitions of our 25 Year Environment Plan for a cleaner, greener future.’

Architects ‘crucial’ part of solution, UN climate summit told | News | Architects Journal
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