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Landscape is key to climate change fight
Climate change is the biggest challenge facing the built environment professions, Landscape Institute president Nigel Thorne warned in a speech at the Institute of Directors in London last month.
He said: “Every decision that we take now as a country has to be in the context of climate change. From a professional standpoint the implications for the UK are very significant. We, as landscape architects, are acutely aware of this – landscape and climate go hand in hand.
“Landscape will have a major role in how we mitigate and adapt to climate change. The interplay of urban with rural, the relationship between our homes and where we work, whether we take our holidays at home or abroad: all of these things will play a part in helping us switch to a low-carbon economy. At a more technical level too, we, as landscape architects, provide solutions.
“All of our political parties and leaders now appear genuinely concerned about such matters and are beginning to understand the importance of landscape to the major strategic issues of the day,” Thorne added.
His speech comes in response to the Government’s Climate Change Bill, outlined in the Queen’s Speech to Parliament, which will aim to establish a long-term plan and framework for businesses to reduce their carbon emissions. The Bill was based on findings from the earlier Stern Review, which set out the economic case for action on climate change.
Environment Secretary David Miliband stated that urgent action was needed both in the UK and internationally to tackle the climate change problem. But he claimed the four-fold plan (see box right) would help to set out a framework for achieving the Government’s goals. He said: “These represent an ambitious and coherent package. The legislation will be introduced as soon as parliamentary time allows.”
However, some have called for clarification. Brian Berry, head of policy for the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, said: “The Government must set binding annual targets to reduce emissions. It is not responsible to focus only upon long-term cuts, but the Government must now spell out in detail what tools it intends to use to cut emissions.”
He added: “One of the biggest problems is the existing built environment. It will take political courage to introduce tough statutory measures to encourage industry and the consumer to make the necessary changes to reduce carbon emissions. The Government would be well advised to offer incentives to encourage both the commercial and residential sectors to upgrade energy efficiency provision.”
Useful information
The four phases of the Climate Change Bill are: • To put the goal of reducing carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2050 into statute, although how the target is to be defined and progress measured is still under consideration • To establish an independent Carbon Committee to work with the Government on its goals • To create new powers to implement emissions reduction measures • To improve monitoring and reporting requirements. Discuss this article
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