Next Tuesday November 29th at 10am GMT I will be moderating a virtual panel discussion on “Constructing change: the road to sustainable and equitable cities”, supported by JLL.
I will be joined today by 5 esteemed panellists:
• Walid Goudiard, head of project & development services EMEA at JLL
• Lin O’Grady, deputy head, sustainable Infrastructure group at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
• Michel Mossessian, founder of Mossessian Architecture
• Jane Muir-Sands, vice president global real estate and operations at IBM Global Markets
• Ommid Saberi, senior industry specialist and global lead for the Building Resilience Index Program, and global technical lead for EDGE Green Building Program, IFC World Bank
Register free: https://events.economist.com/webinar/constructing-change/
The time to start building better is now. Population growth and rising demand for housing mean construction is expanding at a faster rate than efforts to reduce energy consumption. But only a tiny fraction of properties are carbon neutral, and on the current trajectory it will take nearly a century to decarbonise the rest. Around 80% of buildings in 2050 have already been built, so cities must double down on decarbonisation by designing it into new construction and retrofitting older structures. Developers must consider the embodied carbon and adopt circular approaches, with the help of technology. A holistic approach is essential: delivering decarbonisation while also enhancing social equality, biodiversity, circularity and resilience. For such a holistic approach to succeed, a partnership mindset is needed, with collaboration between city governments, owners, landlords and corporate tenants.
In next week’s discussion we will explore the practicalities of moving towards more sustainable cities, particularly how stakeholders could work better together to adapt and decarbonise, while creating more resilient and equitable cities.