A big thank you to everyone who supported the ACAN Regulate Embodied Carbon Petition. A big thank you to everyone who showed their support today! We really appreciate so many people coming out, who understand this issue and want to support change.
We’re asking for common sense in the face of the climate emergency and to show our support for the Carbon Emissions (Buildings) Bill being read in parliament.
UK Construction needs the immediate measuring and reporting of whole life carbon emissions for buildings, in particular embodied carbon emissions. If we can measure the calories in food, there is no reason why we can’t do it for carbon from buildings.
An increasing number of architecture, engineering and construction practices are already measuring and reporting whole life carbon. But once we all are, we can set limits for everyone to reduce embodied carbon, just like we already are for operational carbon.
Current UK policy rewards polluting practices and is preventing innovation. Regulating embodied carbon would stimulate growth of innovative, low carbon and carbon sequestering technologies, products and industry.
UK Construction needs embodied carbon regulation, to catch up with other countries so we can export our knowledge and technology competitively.
All of us know we’re in a climate emergency, we know we have to reduce carbon emissions and we know every industry, including construction, needs to reduce emissions to reach net zero. At the moment we are ignoring the 40 million tonnes of CO2e released annually by UK Construction.
Today’s petition, adds to the numerous researchers, clients, designers, contractors, manufacturers who are asking for embodied carbon regulation. And we support the Carbon Emissions (Buildings) Bill and changes to the National Planning Policy Framework to put embodied carbon regulation into practice.
Again, a big thank you to everyone who came. Thank you to everyone who signed the petition. Thank you to everyone who has been involved, especially Joe Giddings, Joe Penn, Matteo Sarno, Rachael Owens, Seb Laan Lomas, Sophia Ceneda who started this process. And thank you to Jonathan Irawan, Mariana Novosivschei, Brigitte Clements, Tom Hesslenberg and Bobby Jewell who helped organise today.
Let’s get to net zero.
