COP27 – an urgent focus on rapid action for the climate

All eyes are on Egypt between 6 – 18 November as the world again comes together to tackle climate at COP27. Faced with a growing energy crisis, record atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations and increasing extreme weather events, COP27 is more important than ever as we seek to deliver on the landmark Paris Agreement.

My reflections on COP26

12 months ago at COP26, after 13 days of negotiations between 196 countries, the Glasgow Climate Pact was signed.

What made COP26 standout was the sheer range of agreements; as well as 196 countries agreeing to phase down the use of coal for energy production, we saw commitments covering forests, methane emissions, car emissions, and private finance. The combined impact of these commitments was estimated to limit the global temperature rise to 2.7C.

Closing out the COP26 conference, I remember an emotional Alok Sharma, COP26 president, saying, “We can now say with credibility that we have kept 1.5C alive. But, its pulse is weak and it will only survive if we keep our promises and translate commitments into rapid action.”

While positive, subsequent action has not been as forthcoming. As recently as 25 October, only two weeks before COP27 started, the UN calculated that the plans submitted by governments to deliver against their Nationally Declared Contributions made in Glasgow, would lead to a temperature rise of between 2.1C and 2.9C. The best estimate in that range is 2.5C – a marginal improvement of 0.2C. This slow progress in simply publishing plans coupled with the war in Ukraine and a global energy crisis has in turn shown why it’s essential we start moving from plans to that rapid action of delivery.

COP27 - renewed hope

2022 has been a year of extreme weather. Three times the normal annual rain fell in Pakistan during the a long monsoon season, extreme heat in Europe led to wildfires, especially in Spain and Portugal and in China, heat waves and drought dried up parts of the Yangtze River to the lowest level since at least 1865. At home, UK temperatures exceeded 40C in multiple locations for the first time on 19 July, beating the previous record of 38.7C set in 2019 by 1.6C. These events are becoming increasingly more frequent and despite current humanitarian and political crises, we cannot ignore the irreparable long-term impact our actions have on the planet.

Alongside renewing the pathway to 1.5C, I am interested in COP27 developments on biodiversity, adaption and agriculture. The pandemic has shown that beyond providing a massive carbon sink for the planet, access to nature is important for our mental health, alongside the medical and scientific advancements that come from the planet’s natural environments - both on land and in the oceans' spaces. We still have so much to discover and we destroy it at our peril.

The built environment and sustainability

In the global challenges we face, it’s a fair question to ask how Willmott Dixon is addressing the challenges in the built environment. How does this impact our role creating sustainable buildings and delivering our 2030 sustainability strategy, Now or Never.When modelling our strategy objectives, we looked at many scenarios that could happen, from rising interest rates that make projects more expensive, to developing the knowledge and skills within our business to deliver buildings that are net zero in operation. Our objectives set two years ago are clear; help our customers deliver brilliant, sustainable buildings.

Over the past year we have started work on Spelthorne Leisure Centre, which will deliver Greater London’s first Passivhaus leisure centre. North Tyneside Transport Interchange will be net zero in both operational and embodied carbon terms, while Tarleton Academy is a 750 place school in Preston that meets the Department for Education’s demanding net zero carbon in operation standards.

Our Passivhaus leisure scheme for Spelthorne Borough Council

These three brilliant buildings will deliver outstanding outcomes for our customers. Each of them uses a fabric first approach, a high-performance building envelope and construction methodology that minimises energy usage, operating costs and carbon emissions when a building is operational. It is imperative this approach becomes the norm across our industry - if fabric first principles are not followed today, customers will incur greater costs in the future to decarbonise their estate and achieve the net zero carbon future that strive for.

We are also helping local authorities meet their climate emergency targets by addressing the sustainability challenges of their existing estate with our Decarbonise Today service. Likewise, our Collida Living residential business delivers scalable residential solutions that meet Passivhaus and net zero carbon standards.

I urge you to keep a close eye on developments during COP27 and if you’d like to find out more about please feel to get in touch at NowOrNever@willmottdixon.co.uk