The WorldGBC has published a new report, with the support of Dar Group and its member firms — Integral Group, T.Y. Lin, Perkins&Will and Currie & Brown — to identify how an integrated approach to the whole built environment is essential to deliver change in line with the Paris Agreement.
The report ‘Beyond Buildings: Why an integrated approach to buildings and infrastructure is essential for climate action and sustainability’ argues for systemic and integrated infrastructure solutions to improve sustainability outcomes.
This new report is a call to action for the built environment industry and policy makers to respond to the climate crisis with both the building and infrastructure sectors acting together.
“The built environment is such an important part of addressing both the causes and impacts of climate change. This report highlights the opportunities between buildings and infrastructure to accelerate climate action at the scale and speed demanded by science,” says Richard Palmer, Director of Global Sustainability, Integral Group.
Through presenting the roles that both the private and public sectors must play in terms of investment, policy and procurement, WorldGBC’s work identifies that a global framework of principles is necessary to accelerate sustainability performance across infrastructure.
“If we are to succeed in this critical decade, united action across all sub-sectors of the built environment industry is essential as the purpose of much of our built infrastructure is to create and support places for people,” says WorldGBC.
WorldGBC calls for collaboration amongst all actors in the development of a framework of principles. These principles should be adapted and verified at a local level in order to align with the 1.5° emissions trajectory and the United Nations´ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and be applicable to all asset types, to be co-created, agreed, and universally pursued.