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The objective of the Global Consensus on Sustainability in the Built Environment – GLOBE – is to direct the attention of the global community, politicians, industry leaders, and societal decision-makers to the critical importance of the built environment for sustainable development at global and local scales. Appropriate actions by all parties addressed are urgently required to ensure that the built environment of the future is resilient, adequately safe, and socially, environmentally and economically sustainable.
“Nothing less than a transformative and united worldwide effort from all stakeholders of the construction sector is required for human society to be successful in sustainable development, and in the mitigation of the disastrous consequences of climate change at global and local scales.”
The objective of the Global Consensus on Sustainability in the Built Environment – GLOBE – is to direct the attention of the global community, politicians, industry leaders, and societal decision-makers to the critical importance of the built environment for sustainable development at global and local scales. Appropriate actions by all parties addressed are urgently required to ensure that the built environment of the future is resilient, adequately safe, and socially, environmentally and economically sustainable.
Nothing less than a transformative and united worldwide effort from all stakeholders of the construction sector is required for human society to be successful in sustainable development, and in the mitigation of the disastrous consequences of climate change at global and local scales.
The international community, governments, international and national engineering associations, and industries across the construction sector are hereby urged to contribute, and to give their voice to support GLOBE. Expression of support is possible through this link: GLOBE support. See list of supporters here.
The subscribers of GLOBE fully appreciate that the built environment is much more than structures and infrastructures – it encompasses and involves society in general, the environment and a broad range of industries and professions. It is the intention that the GLOBE initiative shall evolve over time to account more holistically for all stakeholders of the built environment, and your contributions in support of this are sincerely invited and hoped for.
The construction sector is currently responsible for more than 20% of global annual CO2 equivalent emissions. Between a quarter and half of these emissions are due to the production of cement, while the rest result from the manufacture of other construction materials, transport, and construction processes. Ongoing operation and maintenance of buildings represents almost an additional 30% of global CO2 equivalent emissions.
Global population growth and rapid urbanization demand enormous construction activities and materials use. Within the next ten years, the overall global land use requirement of the built environment is expected to double. In addition, it is expected that in more developed economies infrastructure and maintenance of structures will significantly increase. Current practices for the management of construction and structures are far from sustainable. If these are not changed, the emissions from the construction sector alone will jeopardize the achievement of the objectives of the Paris agreement.
In comparison to other industries, the construction industry is unique. In many countries, it contributes more than 10% of the national Gross Domestic Product, and is organized in a decentralized way with a vast number of organizations and participants. There is little or no integrative organization between service providers or owners and clients. In addition, the focus of the industry on budgets and efficient delivery of services has created an environment where applied technology enhancements are incremental. Often, limited attention is given to material consumption. Finally, the international standards, codes, and guidelines that govern the design and construction of the built environment evolve too slowly to keep pace with rapidly increasing technological advances, as well as dramatically changing societal needs. In some parts of the world, major revisions take place only at intervals of about 20 years or more, represent compromises among stakeholders, and typically fail to use the best available knowledge for ensuring safety, resilience, and sustainability.
Our Common Future, the report issued by the Brundtland Commission, indicates that sustainable governance of the built environment must ensure that its development and management neither exhaust the capacities of Earth systems, nor impose irreversible damage to the quality of the environment, at both local and global scales. Thus, management of the built environment must focus on sustainability in addition to safety and resilience. Given the imminent global threats associated with climate change, specific emphasis must be given to the reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. A new paradigm for the management of the built environment must be established and adopted immediately, moving toward new best practices for the construction industry at national and global scales.
The consequences of unsustainable development will be felt in the short-term on local scales, but the true challenge is global, and environmental damage will be incurred in the long term. Therefore, immediate planning and action by all governments are required at both national and supra-national scales. In this process, all nations must engage on equal terms, with means, responsibilities and rights which are in balance with national and regional contexts, capacities, levels of development, and welfare.
To facilitate the required new paradigm, it is necessary to identify circular economic strategies for design, construction, monitoring, maintenance, and renewal of the built environment. These should be based on considerations of safety, resilience, and sustainability, and must account for the tradeoffs between short-term benefits and the long term negative environmental and socio-economic consequences.
In specific terms, this means:
To enhance sustainability of the built environment, it is inevitable that substantial economic resources must be progressively allocated to support disciplinary and cross-disciplinary research and innovation in technological, organizational, and regulatory endeavors. An inclusive process of engaging with the general public and stakeholders must be developed and implemented to most effectively leverage specific individual contributions to sustainable development of the built environment. Such a process should be based on partnerships between public authorities, experts, the education sector, and the media
To achieve the necessary improvements in best practices, the scientific and engineering communities must collaborate with industries, regulators and governments to promote the development and employment of a circular economy-based philosophy. This will necessarily include methods, tools, financial incentives and regulations that support sustainable development and maintenance of the built environment. More specifically, this calls for the following actions:
The Global Consensus on Sustainability in the Built Environment – GLOBE – strongly suggests establishing a Global Expert Task Force for sustainable development of the built environment, which can support both supra-national and national authorities by providing a decision basis for policymaking. In this regard, the Joint Committee on Structural Safety is offering its assistance and suggests to establish the Global Expert Task Force under the auspices of the Liaison Committee comprising experts from RILEM, IABSE, fib, CIB, ECCS, IASS, and joined by other relevant and committed international and national organizations that also support GLOBE.