What is COP26 and why is it important?

The climate ‘Conference of Parties’ – or COP1 as we know it – was created with the purpose of monitoring and reviewing the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Dilraj Sokhi-Watson provides the context.

Dilraj Sokhi-Watson, The Landscape Institute Policy and Partnerships Manager, Scotland

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an international multilateral agreement, which defines global climate action: stabilising past and present global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). In the early 1990s, the scientific assessment body for climate evidence – the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published the First Assessment Report, providing the foundation or negotiating (2) the UNFCCC.

In 2021 nearly three decades later, as the world gets ready for COP26 in Glasgow, another landmark IPCC report (3) has sounded the emergency klaxon. In August 2021, the IPCC published Part 1 of the Sixth Assessment Report. The report confidently concludes that climate change is happening now, that recordbreaking weather events (such as heat waves, floods, and wildfires) are already occurring across the globe, and without ‘immediate, rapid, and largescale reductions’ in GHG emissions, global warming of 1.5°C and 2°C will be exceeded.

COP26 (the 26th meeting of the COP) in November is therefore a watershed moment, which will determine the scale of action to limit global warming in the next decade. This puts particular attention on the UK’s emission reduction commitments as the host to COP26, and on its broader environmental targets, including how resilient the UK is to the impacts of climate change.

Goal 13 calls for urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. It is intrinsically linked to all 16 of the other Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

How can landscape professionals deliver on COP26 ambitions and beyond?

Landscape professionals have the skills to design, plan, and manage resilient spaces. They uniquely span the built and natural environment sectors, and can respond to the interconnected, complex issues of climate change, by: – providing an integrated view on green infrastructure, extending through every stage of the planning and design process, at every scale of development. This can be demonstrated through measures such as urban green infrastructure designs for natural flood management and energy and carbon efficient strategies (green roofs and water-efficient design), which can also enhance climate resilience. – implementing good design practice, which at any scale aims to strike a balance between the different elements of functionality, durability, understanding of local natural and cultural elements, and visual appeal. This holistic approach is a cost-effective way of providing sustainable solutions, such as visual impact and management of climate risks. – applying a holistic approach to project planning, design and management landscape professionals can make key contributions to reducing construction costs, making more efficient use of land and using sustainable materials in construction practices, thereby ensuring high standards of delivery against climate and economic objectives. – providing landscape solutions in urban spaces, recommending nature-based solutions within land use development and through environmental impact statements, landscape professionals set goals and aspirations for statutory organisations and associated practitioners for quality environments (4).

What does the Landscape Institute want from the UK at COP26?

The UK’s annual mean temperature has increased by 0.9°C and the average rainfall has increased by 6% over the last two decades (5). Expected changes in the UK’s climate by 2050 are- warmer wetter winters, hotter and drier summers and continued sea level rise. Some of the threats identified are risks to terrestrial species and habitats, risks to natural carbon stores and sequestration from changing conditions, risks to communities, built environment from flooding and risks to infrastructure networks from cascading failures (6).

To limit global warming to 1.5°C, transformative change is required within the energy, land, urban infrastructure (including transport and buildings), and industrial systems. Following the publication of the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C (7) and the UK Government’s commitments to net zero emission targets, the Landscape Institute (LI) has further strengthened its commitment to deliver transformative climate and naturebased solutions within the landscape sector. The LI’s 2020 Greener Recovery (8) report addresses questions on how the landscape sector can deliver a sustainable recovery from the pandemic. An unintended, yet welcome outcome of the pandemic lockdowns has been an improvement in local and global environmental conditions (9) . The reduction in social, economic and industrial activity led to improved air quality in urban spaces, cleaner rivers, reduced noise pollution and improved conditions for local wildlife. To maintain environmental gains and to achieve transformative change our key asks for the UK Government for COP26 are:

Equal consideration to mitigation and adaptation

Green infrastructure measures such as sustainable drainage systems (SuDS), green roofs, rivers, urban trees and community green spaces provide an opportunity to enhance biodiversity outcomes, mitigate climate change through carbon storage, and adapt to its effects. ‘Urban greening’ through the design and development of urban parks, green roofs and urban gardens, can for instance reduce the impact of urban heat island, helping to cool places that climate change will make much hotter. Improving urban biodiversity and climate resilience objectives through investment in key green infrastructure measures, as recommended by the Climate Change Committee is vital, and therefore adaptation measures should be given the same consideration as mitigation at COP26.

Taking a natural capital approach to government housing and infrastructure investment

Public investment should be directed towards projects which generate economic returns as well as restoring and enhancing nature. For example, all new infrastructure and housing should employ a landscapeled approach and publicly funded infrastructure should meet even higher environmental, social and economic objectives, and deliver environmental net gain. The Government should also provide economic stimulus packages which step up a low carbon economic transition and embed natural capital considerations in all stages of planning and decision making (10) .

Investment in green skills, digital and data processes

The UK’s climate commitment entails a cross sectoral, market wide transformation to a low carbon economy. Forecasts within the Green Jobs Taskforce Report indicate that transition to net zero is likely to create a 10% increase in demand for skills in the tech and innovation sectors (12) . However, there is still a skills shortage within the built environment sector to help deliver green infrastructure outcomes, as well as structural workforce issues (13) . An increase in implementation of adaptation and mitigation measures, should directly lead to a growth in landscape and green infrastructure jobs. It would also provide the opportunity within the built environment sector to enhance its digital capacity and productivity. For example, platforms such as Transforming Construction Challenge and BIM could be further enhanced by embedding data on the embodied carbon of materials, or on the biodiversity potential of different habitats, which could deter waste-intensive, high-carbon infrastructure processes. By investing in green processes and skills, working with industry experts and professional bodies to deliver training, apprenticeships, and accreditation and investment in green digital processes, the Government could create pathways to low carbon jobs. This would not only provide support to workers transitioning from high-carbon industries 2 but also address the skills shortage in the landscape sector.

References

1) COP- As the apex, decision making body responsible for implementing the Convention, the climate COP brings together 197 nations and territories- called ‘Parties’ that have signed on to the UNFCCC, to negotiate on climate targets.

2) IPCC (1995)- Second Assessment Report Climate Change https://www.unep.org/resources/report/ climate-change-1995-report-intergovernmental-panelclimate-change

3) IPCC, 2021: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

4) The European Landscape Convention (2021): Urban Landscapes and climate change: the contribution of Landscape Architects to improve the quality of life https://www.iflaeurope.eu/assets/docs/CEP- CDCPP_%282021%29_7E_-_Report_Landscape_ Architects.docx%282%29_.pdf

5) Kendon, M., McCarthy M., Jevrejeva, S., Matthews, A., Sparks, T., Garforth, J., (2021) State of the UK Climate 2020 International Journal of Climatology, Vol41, Number S2 https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley. com/doi/10.1002/joc.7285

6) Climate Change Committee (2021): Independent Assessment of UK Climate Risk: Advice to Government

7) For the UK’s third Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA3) https://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/ uploads/2021/07/Independent-Assessment-of-UK- ClimaDte-Risk-Advice-to-Govt-for-CCRA3-CCC.pdf

8) Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C

9) LI’s 2020 Greener Recovery report

10) Arora, S et al (2020) Coronavirus lockdown helped the environment to bounce back https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih. gov/pmc/articles/PMC7323667/

11) IPBES-IPCC co-sponsored workshop report on biodiversity and climate change; IPBES and IPCC. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.4782538.

12) State of Natural Capital Annual Report 2020 Natural Capital Committee https://assets.publishing.service.gov. uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_ data/file/858739/ncc-annual-report-2020.pdf

13) Green Jobs Task Force Report (2021) Report to Government, Industry and the Skills sector https:// assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/ system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1003570/gjtfreport.pdf

14) Landscape Institute sector statistics, referenced at: https://www.landscapeinstitute.org/news/ government-confirms-addition-of-landscapearchitectsto-shortage-occupation-list/