Architects and other built environment professionals will travel to Copenhagen to urge world leaders to recognise the sector’s untapped role in tackling climate change

The RIBA and the UK Green Building Council are both sending representatives to next month’s UN Climate Change Conference — known as COP15 — to argue that the building industry has the greatest potential for cutting greenhouse gases at the least cost using existing technology.

Construction is responsible for 50% of the world’s carbon emissions, said RIBA past president Sunand Prasad who will be speaking at a number of meetings.


The Copenhagen event seeks to cut CO2 emissions by up to 30%.

He said: “The construction industry needs to be there making a noise, saying, we have a pretty big role to play here. With a little bit of help we can do quite a lot.”

The Kyoto Protocol, effective from 2005 to 2012, paid little attention to construction, and the industry is keen to force itself up the agenda at Copenhagen, where ministers and officials from 193 countries will thrash out an “ambitious global climate agreement” for the period from 2012.

While no specific targets have been set for COP15, the EU is calling for a 30% reduction in 1990 CO2 levels by 2020. Other nations back far smaller cuts.

A spokesman for the Green Building Council, which represents architects, developers and contractors, said the potential carbon savings from buildings could give ministers the confidence to agree to significant targets next month. “You can get such cost-effective carbon-saving measures with fantastically well-designed buildings that give people great quality of life,” he said.

“It’s not like saying you can’t fly.”

The council’s members have already pledged to introduce a carbon trading scheme for buildings, to fund research into climate-neutral construction methods and to push for all new public buildings to be zero-energy.

Campaign group 10:10 says even if the EU’s target were met, the chance of preventing the world warming by more than 2ÞC would still be only 50:50. Two degrees is widely considered to be a tipping point when the risks become much greater.

Meanwhile, Cabe has launched a report called Grey to Green which argues that switching public spending from “grey” projects like road building and heavy engineering to “green” schemes like parks and green roofs could help address climate change.

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