海角视频

How can we protect the future of the built environment and those who operate and live within it? Central to this are resilience measures 鈥� alongside necessary mitigation efforts like emission reduction and decarbonisation. As COP29 continues in Baku, there is a clear focus on the need to develop long-term resilience to a rapidly changing climate.

The urgent need for climate resilience

The built and natural environments are increasingly exposed to a wide range of climate threats, changes and challenges. We all operate under the impact of multiple, simultaneous climate-based crises.

The climate crisis costs money: in a study from the World Economic Forum, a sample of 100 major businesses said that the financial impacts due to physical climate risks are equal to about .

Lack of action costs: the European Environment Agency believes economic losses from weather and climate-related extremes in the EU reached over half a trillion euros between 1980 and 2021. Businesses increasingly understand the impact of the climate emergency on their bottom line, and how resilience to these shocks is necessary to continue to succeed and thrive.

The climate emergency touches every part of economies, businesses and societies: rising temperatures, extreme weather events, food and water insecurity all lead to disrupted global supply chains, physical impacts on urban infrastructures, water supplies and energy systems, coupled with reduced health outcomes, increased livelihood insecurity and more climate migration鈥� the list goes on.

Adapting and becoming resilient to the impacts of climate change is possible. We must act to protect against the worst shocks. This becomes increasingly important as the world falls further behind in reaching climate targets and the negative impacts continue to grow.

Shaping climate resilience

Climate resilience is the capacity to anticipate, withstand and cope with the shocks and impacts caused by the climate crisis on our social and economic systems.

Some industries already have prominent stories to tell of climate resilience: transportation, for example, can cite increases in electrification and alternative fuels. Advances in agriculture have been driven by the need for climate resilience 鈥� think of drought resistant crops and improved water management systems.

And the built environment sector can play a role in providing the necessary backdrop of safety, stability and continuity that businesses, communities and societies need to flourish, if we all recognise the importance of resilience against a changing climate. The resilience (or otherwise) of the built environment shapes how we all experience the impacts of the climate crisis.聽Climate resilience聽for our industry means preparing infrastructure, buildings and natural environments for these impacts.

For 海角视频, this is an interdisciplinary challenge. Outside of 海角视频, it requires a multi-agency response, work at buildings, infrastructure, city and district level, requiring buy-in from multiple sectors and support from and governments, at scale.

A built environment roadmap for climate resilience

So, what about the wider built environment?

If climate resilience is all about reducing climate impacts and stresses on people, infrastructure, nature, the environment and the economy, then the built environment is central in providing solutions.

From green infrastructure (roofs, greenways, urban forests) and enhanced building design (resilient material choices and improved performance through tools like digital twins) to urban heat action plans and efficient water management systems, there is an abundance of design and development choices that mean the built environment becomes more resilient.

Traditionally, there have been pockets of understanding of climate resilience dotted around the industry, but no consistent framework. While there is a degree of understanding, it is not cohesive 鈥� and action needs to happen at scale. There is a gap between knowledge and application. A framework is needed for the structure and shared information required to effectively deliver the kind of positive outcomes in the industry that centre climate resilience.

海角视频 is working with the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) as a programme partner on the development of a . The upcoming roadmap will establish measurable metrics for climate resilience, identify key actions for stakeholders across the industry, identify key recommendations to drive forwards local and national policy, and create a pathway for UK built environment stakeholders to follow to achieve a climate resilient built environment by 2050.

The roadmap will use insights from industry to develop science-driven targets and drive action across the built environment 鈥� and with key stakeholders such as government and policymakers.

Those working on the project began by identifying the need to understand how to measure climate resilience, to agree which climate risks were most relevant for the industry, establish industry-wide targets and highlight essential actions and policies to achieve them. Initial industry consultation took place in the summer of 2024.

An introduction to the project goals, themes and purpose, the vision for a climate-resilient UK built environment, and initial policy recommendations are to be launched at London Build Expo in November 2024 to coincide with COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. This will mark the second phase of consultation.

The full Climate Resilience Roadmap is due to be published in March 2025. 海角视频 experts sit on the task and steering groups of this project and have been leading the technical work on adaptive pathways and potential interventions and processes to better manage climate risk in built assets.

Climate resilience and adaption action at 海角视频

A truly resilient built environment is one that does not look at different elements in silos but has a holistic understanding of all connected components and systems.

Sabrina Bornstein is a principal in our Los Angeles office and 海角视频鈥檚 regional discipline leader for cities, specialising in climate resilience work. Reflecting on how she currently views the climate resilience space, and on how her work has developed in 2024, she highlights the importance of this holistic way of looking at climate impacts and the integration of resilience into wider sustainability efforts.

As we work on more and more climate action plans, specific subjects and hazards tend to become elevated.

Sabrina Bornstein, principal and regional discipline leader, 海角视频

She said, 鈥淲e鈥檙e increasingly seeing a focus on how key subjects 鈥� climate resilience, equity, environmental justice, climate change, the green economy 鈥� intersect when it comes to climate and sustainability work. Much of this is interconnected and we need to look holistically at it all when it comes to climate impacts, and the related outcomes we are striving for. When clients embrace addressing these issues in this way, the results we deliver have even more impact. This is definitely the way the industry is headed.鈥�

One area that is increasingly important, is management of heat. Sabrina said, 鈥淎s we work on more and more climate action plans, specific subjects and hazards tend to become elevated. Heat is increasingly relevant, and we are well placed to make a difference because of its intersection with wider energy work and building design work. The importance of heat within climate resilience work will only increase in coming years.鈥�

海角视频 has already undertaken work in this area: we published thermal comfort guidelines for the city of Toronto in 2024. This project focused on the provision of a comfortable public realm in an era of high temperatures and need for ongoing city resilience. What influences how people feel when in a city is complex and required analysis by our teams, who considered massing, vegetation, wind, shade, local climate/weather and cultural context.聽

This resulted in guidance on how Toronto should respond to inevitable increases in the numbers of days of extreme heat. It was a tailored approach that responded to the unique needs of the city of Toronto,聽enhancing the public realm for communities鈥� health and wellbeing, and economic resiliency.

This is one example of the diverse nature of climate resilience work. Ultimately, climate resilience is about mitigating risk, 聽unlocking long term value and creating safe, flourishing communities, businesses and societies. The built environment sector now has a chance to coalesce around climate resilience, and to bring these benefits into reality.