The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report has again singled out cities and the built environment as having a huge role to play in halving global emissions by 2030.
The report, released this week, said that “increasing evidence of climate action” across key sectors was an encouraging development but warned that if more action wasn’t taken this decade then hopes of reaching climate goals would be dashed.
The report said that cities design and real estate more widely were areas in which there were “significant opportunities” to make the reductions required. Cities must promote lower energy consumption by creating more compact, walkable urban hubs and introducing electric public transport combined with low-emission energy sources.
The report conceded that achieving net zero in the wider real estate sector would be challenging, but urged the use of new production processes, low and zero emissions electricity, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage.
IPPC Working Group III co-chair Jim Skea said: “We see examples of zero-energy or zero-carbon buildings in almost all climates. Action in this decade is critical to capture the mitigation potential of buildings.”
Responding to the IPCC report, UKGBC’s chief executive Julie Hirigoyen said: “Our buildings and cities have yet again been singled out by climate scientists as one of the areas contributing most adversely to this stark reality. Failure to drive ambitious retrofit politics compounded by poorly designed new buildings ‘locking in carbon for future generations’, as well as slow efforts to decarbonise energy supplies, are all cited by the IPCC as putting us on track for a climate disaster.
“Many of the solutions already exist – as clearly noted by the IPCC – but what is missing is the political ambition and financial incentives needed to make this happen at scale. Half measures will not halve our emissions, and the UK is no exception to this.”
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