FEATURE NET ZERO ROADMAP
No Time to Slow Down
Timber was championed as the world’s leading sustainable building material at COP26 last year but what were the main outcomes and lessons learned from the event?
T
he key driver of the COP26 event was agreeing the global route to secure the 2050 net zero targets. As part of this important on-going aim, the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) officially launched its Net
Zero Whole Life Carbon Roadmap in December 2021, which provides a summary of where we are now and what needs to happen to reach those 2050 targets. The Roadmap details the necessary actions government and industry must take to achieve net zero across the sector. The built environment is directly responsible for 25% of the total UK carbon footprint, and therefore has a critical role to play in the national transition to net zero. Co-created by industry with over 100 Julie Hirigoyen, Chief Executive at UKGBC said: “After all the talk,
organisations contributing, the Roadmap provides a shared vision and set of actions for achieving a net zero UK built environment by 2050,
it’s time for action. The UK Government’s Heat and Buildings Strategy
in relation to construction, operation and demolition of buildings and
is a step in the right direction but fails to address several key priorities
infrastructure.
that this analysis clearly demonstrates are non-negotiable to achieving a net-zero carbon built environment by 2050. The Net Zero Whole Life
The Roadmap quantifies, for the first time, the specific emission reductions across sub-sectors of the built environment that will need
Carbon Roadmap pulls together disparate strands of recent policy and
to take place year-on-year to meet the 2050 deadline. The analysis
action into one coherent pathway, with clear recommendations for
includes not only domestic emissions, but emissions related to the
National Government and Local Authorities, as well as the private sector
consumption of imported construction products and materials. The
and the wider industry. We urge policy-makers and industry to embed
Roadmap establishes a net zero emissions budget and trajectory to
these recommendations into policies and strategies to make good on
2050, consistent with wider UK carbon targets and budgets as set-out
the promises and commitments of COP26.” The Roadmap sets out policy recommendations for central and
by the Climate Change Committee (CCC), enabling government and the UK built environment to benchmark progress over the coming years
local governments to help drive and enable the transition needed
and decades.
to decarbonise the sector. These go beyond the recently published Timber Trader UK Magazine
Winter 2021-2022
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