The trustees of the
Royal Institute of British Architects’ (RIBA) have formally agreed to join the
global declaration of an environment and climate emergency and to drive support
for the UK government’s commitment to a 2050 net zero greenhouse gas emissions
target.
The agreement was
made at the triannual meeting of RIBA Council members, which brings together
the elected trustees of the RIBA to debate and discuss the biggest issues
facing the profession.
RIBA Council
acknowledged the scale of the challenge and responsibility of built environment
professionals in playing their part in tackling it. For the UK to reach the
government’s target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the
architectural profession must take a leading role, ramping up its actions.
RIBA Council
endorsed a series of key decisions including the development of a five year,
detailed, measurable action plan to embed sustainable industry standards and
practice; use the RIBA’s influence to improve government and inter-government
policy and regulation; and reduce the RIBA’s own carbon footprint.
RIBA Council
endorsed the following motion:
- Declaration of an environment
and climate emergency and support for the UK government’s commitment to
put into legislation the UKCCC recommendation for a UK 2050 net zero
greenhouse gas emissions target.
- RIBA to develop an Ethics and
Sustainable Development Action Plan to include measurable actions to
support a net zero carbon environment, driving change at national and
international level in: Industry standards and practice, government and
inter-governmental policy and regulation, the RIBA’s own carbon footprint.
- The RIBA should work to
support chartered member practices (in the UK and internationally),
enabling them to commit to voluntary reporting of core building
performance metrics, and to work towards the whole-life net zero carbon
standard and standard Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) reporting metrics
when the guidance is available.
RIBA President, Ben
Derbyshire, said: “The climate emergency is the biggest challenge facing our
planet and our profession. But to have a significant impact we need to do more
than make symbolic statements - we need to turn warm words into impactful actions.
"We architects
need to transform the way we practice and along with our fellow professionals
around the world, make changes that will impact at a global level.
"Whilst the
task ahead of us is vast, we have already made some progress embedding Post
Occupancy Evaluation into the RIBA Plan of Work, and introducing enhanced
sustainability requirements in our awards criteria. But there is still much
more for all of us to do.
"The five year
action plan we have committed to today will ensure we are able to benchmark
change, and evaluate the actions that make most impact.”
