CIOB at COP26

This year COP26 was held in Glasgow. The two-week conference, running from 31 October to 12 November 2021, brought together parties to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. 
 
COP26 has received a significant amount of attention this year, primarily due to last year’s being postponed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and several significant weather events globally. Furthermore, it is seen as key time to review and honour the pledges made at COP21 in Paris which was to limit global warming to well below 2 Celsius and, preferably, to 1.5C compared to pre-industrial levels.  

Built Environment Day 
 
On 11 November, COP26 held a dedicated built environment day. Throughout the day, members of the policy and public affairs team attended talks from industry experts and climate change specialists.
 
Of note was a discussion hosted by the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) titled Construction: The Built Environment. The event centered around the global challenges of delivering net zero in the built environment, the combined power of industry and Government in delivering net zero as well as how the future of the construction sector can pivot to meet the challenge. During the event, panelists highlighted that while the Heat and Building Strategy, Construction Playbook and other initiatives are welcome, they will not deliver the change that is needed to meet our legally binding carbon neutrality targets. Instead, industry should lead the way in finding new sustainable methods of construction. Alongside this the panel highlighted the need for a joined up national retrofit strategy as homes in the UK account for more greenhouse gas emissions than all other building types combined, resulting in the UK having the least efficient housing stock in Europe.

Also on the agenda was Enhancing Ambition on Climate Change In Cities And Regions, during which speakers from across the globe outlined how, when it comes to practical actions on the ground to address climate change in the built environment, city regions are the real drivers of change. 

Mario Silva, representing the Global Climate Action Award winning city of Guadalajara, Mexico, outlined the work his team have done to cut across Local Government bureaucracy to gather city level climate data, and translate that data into practical measures at the metropolitan level. Guadalajara won the award for its Metropolitan Climate Action Plan, which aims to achieve a carbon neutral city by 2050. There was unanimous agreement from the panel that the first step should be creating a science-based plan. Lu Sun, Head of Climate Action Planning China at C40 Cities, pointed out that cities with a plan are more than twice as likely to achieve carbon neutrality. Lee Waters, Deputy Minister for Climate Change in Wales, pointed out that skillsets at the local authority (LA) level need to be updated. For instance, LA transport departments are dominated by highways engineers who see cycling as a trivial activity. This needs to change if we are to deliver sustainable transport options for city dwellers.

Having spent three years without a sitting Assembly, Northern Ireland lacks national climate legislation. However, as the speakers at All Together Now: Collaboration for Local Climate Action in Northern Ireland showed, despite this national lethargy, LAs in Northern Ireland are proactively addressing the issue at the local level. The energetic panel of LA climate professional discussed how they are developing climate action plans and improving governance, preparing for a collaborative, innovative and resilient future with best practice messages which are applicable across the UK and beyond.
 
The policy team also attended an event hosted by the Cities Climate Finance Leadership Alliance on Financing the Sustainable Cities of the Future. The event focused on examining the major challenges cities face when seeking to finance climate mitigation and adaption activities, a discussion on how to involve all relevant stakeholders to raise awareness of the issues facing the built environment as well as analysing specific examples from countries leading the way in sustainable development.

Experts from Brazil, Colombia and the UK discussed ways in which cities are adapting to tackle climate change and, once again, it should be city leaders setting the example on climate change and not national Government’s. It was highlighted that while the current ambitions are welcome, there is a disparity between the intentions and the level of communications with relevant stakeholders who will need to be taken along the sustainability journey. The emphasis should therefore be on the need to engage with residents, businesses and other users of the built environment so that they can understand the ways that they can contribute towards building a sustainable future. 

West Midlands COP26 Regional Roadshow

COP26 has not been limited to Glasgow and as part of the official conference programme, the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) hosted a COP26 Regional Roadshow on 11 November at the Springfield Campus, University of Wolverhampton. 

Our policy officer in the Midlands, Daisie Rees-Evans, attended the regional roadshow which brought together civic leaders, companies from a range of industries, academics and students to discuss the region’s vision for a sustainable and greener future. 

The agenda was packed with panel sessions, workshops and roundtables discussing:
•    Future Mobility and Transport
•    Energy Systems
•    Place & the Built Environment
•    Skills for the Future

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, made it clear in his video address that greener public transport was high on his agenda and he would be speaking on this in Edinburgh later that day. 

WMCA have secured £1bn in the recent Budget announcement to accelerate towards a zero-carbon transport system and the West Midlands is undertaking the UK’s first Net Zero Neighbourhood (NZN) initiative which will help support the region in becoming net zero by 2041.