In advance of the United Nations climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, COP26, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), in partnership with the climate initiative, Architects Declare, hosted a Built Environment Summit. Held on October 28 and 29 at RIBA’s London headquarters and virtually, the meeting brought together hundreds of experts, advocates, and professionals from across the global design and construction sector (RECORD attended online). The summit was conceived as a live extension of the two organizations’ Built for the Environment report, a comprehensive call-to-action on the climate and biodiversity emergencies. In opening the event with RIBA president Simon Allford and Architects Declare steering group member Andrew Waugh, Maria Smith, the report’s editor and director of sustainability and physics at Buro Happold, summed up the summit’s central theme: “Ambitious change in the built environment sector is possible,” they said, “and together we can bring about the change that’s needed.”
Published by the RIBA and Architects Declare, with over 200 endorsements from prominent industry organizations worldwide, Built for the Environment posits a set of principles and recommendations for making the shift to an equitable, sustainable built environment. It distills lessons from over a hundred case studies from around the world to demonstrate that the requisite tools and technology exist, and to give governments the confidence to commit to the regulations, infrastructure, and support that are needed to facilitate the transition. The report will be presented at COP26, now underway in Glasgow through November 12. Many believe this COP to be the world’s last real chance to bring runaway climate change under control.
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