Oki, who attended the two-week long United Nations climate summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, said the profession had the ability to reduce the carbon impact of the built environment.
According to the UK Green Building Council, carbon from the construction and refurbishment of buildings currently makes up 20 per cent of UK built environment emissions.
‘It’s clear that architects have a key role to play,’ said the RIBA president at the close of the COP 28 last week (12 December). ‘We must ensure we regulate and reduce the whole-life carbon impacts of the built environment.’
He called for sustainability to be at the procurement and planning process, saying: ‘We [the RIBA] continue to work with the sector and the government to make this a reality.’
However, Oki said the agreements struck at COP 28 – which included the first ever acknowledgement of the need to transition from fossil fuels – needed to go further.
‘These pledges alone will not limit the warming of the planet to 1.5°C,’ he said.
An agreement reached at the end of the mega-conference commits countries to working to reduce overall global consumption of fossil fuels. It does not encourage nations to phase out oil and gas, however.
The outcome was still hailed by summit leaders as a historic consensus and Oki called the agreement ‘a truly welcome and positive shift’.
The RIBA president said earlier that agreements on energy efficiency, timber use and emissions all showed the importance of the built environment sector in dealing with the climate emergency.
Commitments were made at COP 28 on the use of sustainably managed timber in the built environment, as well as pledges to double the rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030.
The UK and 26 other countries meanwhile committed to the Buildings Breakthrough agenda, a UN Environment Programme-backed effort to accelerate the transformation of the built environment sector towards net zero.
Architects Climate Action Network (ACAN) on COP 28
The construction sector, responsible for a staggering 42 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, is a key battleground in this fight for sustainability. ACAN is fighting for radical systems change to address the twin crises of climate and ecological breakdown.
We demand better leadership from those at COP 28. As custodians of our planet and all the uniquely beautiful organisms within it, your responsibility at this pivotal event transcends all human history, demanding a level of commitment commensurate with the unparalleled challenges we face. We implore the leaders present at COP 28 not to underestimate the resounding power of your voices, urging you to rise above the noise of incremental changes to the status quo. We need you to be the change we need.
A coalition of architecture and built environment climate action networks, including ACAN, call for leadership to drive radical systems change from global and local leaders at COP 28. Our call is for urgent action, compelling a shift away from fossil fuels, hazardous chemicals, and unsustainable business models toward just and regenerative materials.
However, the conflict of interest embodied by Al Jaber, leading both COP 28 and Adnoc with its significant ‘net-zero-busting’ expansion plans, raises serious questions about the integrity of the summit’s leadership. It becomes clear that those at the top of the leadership chain in the fight against climate change may not be capable of driving the necessary change.
Let’s not have short memories here. COP 27 in Egypt was a failure, predominantly because fossil fuel-producing nations blocked the push to promise a phase-down of all fossil fuels in the final deal. The event did not conclude with concrete plans on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Reflecting on these failures of the last COP, and the resistance from fossil fuel-producing nations, COP 28 faces the urgent need for concrete plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The incongruity of COP 28’s most powerful figures simultaneously steering climate action and fossil fuel production expansion, highlights the challenge of reconciling economic imperatives with the imperative to avert climate catastrophe.
But there is hope: a dynamic wave of energy and action is surging from grassroots organisations, exemplified by the remarkable efforts of organisations such as ACAN, leading the charge for change. What we seek from our leaders is not merely support for these grassroots initiatives but a commitment to harness this potent energy to propel transformation. Change is not a distant prospect; it’s under way. We implore our leaders to seize the wealth of knowledge, action, and momentum already in motion at the grassroots level.
Together, we can amplify the impact of all the incredible initiatives already in play and usher in a new era where the system and its incentives are anchored in the long-term future of our civilisation. The ideas and the energy to drive tremendous change lies exists throughout society and is abundant. To take root, however, requires changing the way our global economic system functions, and that cannot be done purely bottom up. It requires leadership.
In conclusion, COP 28 stands at a critical juncture where rhetoric and reality must converge for meaningful progress. The coalition’s demands underscore the urgency for radical, not incremental action, and the conflicts of interest rife in this year’s leadership symbolises the broader challenge of reconciling legacy economic incentives with the imperative to avert climate catastrophe. COP 28 must transcend symbolic gestures and deliver tangible commitments to secure a sustainable future for generations to come.
Now, more than ever, the world requires you, the custodians of our collective future, to embody the change we so desperately need.