During the afternoon of Wednesday 22nd September 2010, I attended a Leadership in Sustainability seminar, ran by the Construction Industry Environmental Forum (CIEF) (part of CIRIA), Sponge and Forum For The Future.
Martin Hunt, Head of the Built Environment at Forum and formally part of CIRIA, gave the opening speech. He stated that it is useful to consider the pressures we face today: increasing pressure on natural resources, demand for/cost of energy, a growing population, a widening gap between rich and poor, biodiversity loss and climate change.
He highlighted an article in the FT (‘Call for urgent infrastructure overhaul amid climate change’) in emphasizing that although there is a lot of debate over the carbon dioxide levels at which we can stabilize the climate (350ppm currently), there is no debate over the fact that we have to take action now. According to Paul McNamara, Head of Property Research at PRUPIM, property is the key sector to look to for carbon dioxide emissions reduction. The Low Carbon Review, however is currently being undertaken and looks to be a mandate for change in the construction arena and it involves ‘whole life costing’. Climate change mitigation and adaptation is a challenge for industry sectors, government, individuals and large corporations.
To meet these challenges, we need leaders who adopt this ‘whole life costing’ approach, who understand the risks and opportunities from both the public and business perspectives, who drive the adoption of innovative fiscal solutions, who encourage the development of skills and enhance our capacity to be resilient and who can communicate the value of acting responsibly now.
To follow was a presentation by a gentleman from Marks and Spencers Plan A and one by a gentleman from InterfaceFLOR to show how their businesses are taking sustainability into consideration not only at the level of their property, but throughout the whole business and supply chain.
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