Construction has major role in biodiversity protection

The fact that we are living through, and causing, the interconnected emergencies of climate change and biodiversity loss is undeniable. 

WWF’s Living Planet Report 2022 revealed that global wildlife populations have plummeted by a staggering 69% on average since 1970. In the UK, the State of Nature Report 2023 concluded that nearly one in six species are threatened with national extinction.

What also cannot be ignored is construction’s contribution to these emergencies, and its responsibility to do all it can to reverse them. 

The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) and media production company Content With Purpose (CWP) are marking World Habitat Day today with the launch of a series of films exploring the relationship between construction and nature, and the essential need for the industry to respond to the biodiversity crisis. 

Featuring a diverse collection of future-focused content including short films and interviews, The Nature of Building: Biodiversity & the Built Environment examines the impact of the built environment on nature and biodiversity, and the measures in place to mitigate negative impact from construction operations.

It presents a future where society’s needs for developing housing and infrastructure do not come at a high cost to biodiversity and designs put nature at the heart of development, bolstering the industry’s ambition to become nature positive. 

Those of us working in the built environment have a huge opportunity to address the emergency we face and build a better, greener tomorrow. It's more urgent than ever that we ensure meeting the world's needs for infrastructure and housing is not delivered at a cost to the environment or the climate. Major developments can and must deliver net gains for biodiversity, leading to positive outcomes for nature and healthier, better places for local communities. 

But we must also consider the impacts on nature that are hidden in a building's supply chain, embodied in the fabric of the buildings, from the processes that take place throughout material life cycles. 

Industry input 

The series includes interviews with and input from a range of industry leaders, including Sir John Armitt, chair of the UK’s National Infrastructure Commission; Professor Anusha Shah, president of the Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE); and Marco Lambertini, Convener of the Nature Positive Initiative and former director general of WWF International. 

The series also shines a light on cutting-edge projects and initiatives placing nature at the heart of action, meeting inspiring individuals and organisations driving progress in skills, research, innovation, technology, and ethical practices. 

This includes the Green Hoarding Pilot in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, where a specially made 50m2 wrap embedded with thousands of seeds was used to cover an existing construction hoarding on the corner of Whitechapel Road and New Road. The seeds within the wrap grew into a vertical wildflower meadow, attracting a variety of birds, bees, butterflies, and insects.

I ask you all to get behind the series, visit the website, be inspired, share the stories of best practice and engage with the issues together. We have the opportunity to redefine the nature of building, creating a built environment that addresses the twin emergencies of biodiversity loss and climate change, and in doing so, construct a better, greener world for us all. 

It’s more urgent than ever that we ensure that meeting the worlds needs for infrastructure and housing is not delivered at a cost to the natural environment or the climate.