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?

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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 organisations contributing, the Roadmap provides a shared vision and set of actions for achieving a net zero UK built environment by 2050, in relation to construction, operation and demolition of buildings and infrastructure. The Roadmap quantifies, for the first time, the specific emission reductions across sub-sectors of the built environment that will need to take place year-on-year to meet the 2050 deadline. The analysis includes not only domestic emissions, but emissions related to the consumption of imported construction products and materials. The Roadmap establishes a net zero emissions budget and trajectory to 2050, consistent with wider UK carbon targets and budgets as set-out by the Climate Change Committee (CCC), enabling government and the UK built environment to benchmark progress over the coming years and decades.

Julie Hirigoyen, Chief Executive at UKGBC said: “After all the talk, it’s time for action. The UK Government’s Heat and Buildings Strategy is a step in the right direction but fails to address several key priorities that this analysis clearly demonstrates are non-negotiable to achieving a net-zero carbon built environment by 2050. The Net Zero Whole Life Carbon Roadmap pulls together disparate strands of recent policy and action into one coherent pathway, with clear recommendations for National Government and Local Authorities, as well as the private sector and the wider industry. We urge policy-makers and industry to embed these recommendations into policies and strategies to make good on the promises and commitments of COP26.”

The Roadmap sets out policy recommendations for central and local governments to help drive and enable the transition needed to decarbonise the sector. These go beyond the recently published 

UK Government Heat & Buildings strategy and cover existing homes, existing non-domestic buildings and new buildings as well as for the infrastructure which connects our buildings and industry.

Nigel Topping, COP26 High Level Climate Action Champion, commented: “As we start a critical decade for climate action, the United Kingdom can and should take a leadership role. This report epitomises leadership and establishes that the UK built environment has a comprehensive and rigorous plan for abating its emissions across the construction, operation, and demolition of buildings and infrastructure. I invite you all to use this Roadmap for delivering a net zero future.”

How did COP26 end?

The media at COP26 wanted to report on major geopolitical moves to slow the climate emergency. It ended with some clear resolutions for further action to be taken around the world to address the current climate crisis. One key takeaway is that, after years of dancing around the issue, COP26 ended with a clear reference to the role of fossil fuels in perpetuating our climate crisis. However, some critics were frustrated by the lack of a more decisive stance on the use of coal.

Following a late objection from Indian delegates, the language shifted from the “phasing out” of coal to a more gradual “phasing down” with a reduction of “inefficient” fossil fuel subsidies. Much of the action on the issue of phasing out fossil fuels was deferred to COP27 which will be hosted in Egypt. However, several decisive actions were decided upon in what became the “Glasgow Climate Pact”.

What are the main decisions taken?

There was some disappointment among environmental groups that more decisive actions were not agreed upon as COP26 ended. Nonetheless, the committee did decide upon several priorities to reduce the impact of climate change.

Although nations are not legally bound to act, US climate envoy John Kerry told CNN that nations in attendance would be bound by the: “public scrutiny that holds you accountable to your own promises… That’s a huge level of accountability, frankly.” The main decisions made in the Glasgow Climate Pact were as follows.

Fossil fuels

Environmental groups were pleasantly surprised when explicit reference was made to the role of fossil fuels, particularly coal, in exacerbating climate change. The burning of coal is responsible for roughly 40% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. The language of the agreement was changed from “phasing out” to phasing down” following an objection from India. The agreement also includes a commitment to end fossil fuel subsidies.

End of deforestation

Trees absorb vast quantities of CO2 and are instrumental in the prevention and reversal of climate change, so it was a relief to see that over 100 countries (which contain 85% of the world’s forests between them) pledged to end deforestation by 2030. Critics, however, warned that we have seen similar initiatives come and go with very little impact. Climate change expert Prof Simon Lewis said that the world has “has been here before”, citing a 2014 declaration in New York which failed to make a meaningful impact on deforestation. It was also unclear how this would be policed.

Limit global warming to 1.5C

COP26 President Alok Sharma expressed gratitude to delegates for ‘keeping 1.5 alive’, in reference to the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This is essential to avoid a climate catastrophe and prevent the impact of frequent and intense heat waves and storms on our planet. The key to this is reducing greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale. To limit global warming to 1.5C, the world will need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by around 27 billion metric tons per year. Critics argue that the commitments made in the Glasgow Climate Pact fall short of this.

What will be the next steps for the UK?

The decisions made at COP26 will have far-reaching implications for governments, industries and businesses around the world. But what are the next steps for the UK? The most important include:

• Doubling down on our commitment to become carbon neutral by 2050 • Working harder to reduce greenhouse emissions • Investing heavily in clean energy infrastructure • Working with the automotive industry to hasten the phasing out of petrol and diesel vehicles.

The Wood for Good conference that ran alongside COP26 heard Andrew Waugh – co-founder of Waugh Thistleton Architects and a pioneer of low-carbon design – say managing our homegrown timber resources is critical to supporting growing industry demand.

We can expect the decisions made during COP26 to influence our day-to-day lives in several ways. And while we should celebrate the transition to a more sustainable way of living, we all need to acknowledge the contributions that we need to make, and what we can do to help to mitigate the effects of climate change. The increased use of sustainable and certified timber from responsible sources is crucial as is the need to improve the amounts and availability of homegrown UK timber.

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