Welcome to this Climate Action blog, read on to hear from the Chair of the Constructing Excellence Climate Action theme group, Annette Boren.
Why Climate Action?
Climate change is real, it’s here and, as already seen this summer, it is cataclysmic in several parts of the world.
Construction has a large part to play in the climate change crisis, the industry’s footprint accounts for:
- 35% of CO2 footprint worldwide
- Consumption of 50% of the raw material worldwide!
- 40% of the energy usage worldwide.
Going forward we all need to take responsibility for the sector in a different way, more holistically. We need to begin to think about:
- how we can make construction better from a productivity and safety perspective that goes hand in hand with the carbon footprint.
- low carbon footprint solutions and more circularity.
- how to decrease energy consumption.
- how to upskill people and to create a strong link to educational institutions to make sure we educate future employees to the sector for the future with the right skills, that the sector needs.
- high value jobs and fulfilling jobs. Right now, for example, we have a massive shortage of qualified heat pump engineers. According to a report by Nesta, in the coming years we will need 27k engineers, at the moment we have 3k.
We need to think seriously about all of these challenges and begin to explore the steps we can take to improve, not only the future of the industry, but the future of the planet.
Finance Implications
Companies in the construction sector can clearly improve the bottom line by safeguarding workers and reducing the sectors impact on the environment through use of high quality, efficient and safe tools, using more cutting-edge technologies and moving away from how it is done traditionally.
It is a bit more expensive up front, but it improves productivity, it improves health and safety, jobs get done quicker with healthier workers and with less impact on the environment. This clearly helps the bottom line, but business need to look beyond the upfront cost.
How Can the Constructing Excellence Climate Action Group Make a Tangible Change Now?
Right now, we need to better share all of the good things that are happening. We all understand the need to change, but we need to focus this on actions we can take today, right now. Here BRE is playing a great role, we will leverage this moving forward in the Climate Action Group.
This theme group will provide the Constructing Excellence movement with inspiration, insight and connections, and deliver genuine change at a practical level. We will explore best practice and share ideas for what can be done now, based on real life examples that are scalable and replicable, while promoting innovation and accelerating its adoption by the industry.
To find out more about the group; it’s Chair, aims and focuses, visit our Climate Action page.
The group will hold its first session on 17th October, where we will focus on what do we mean by climate action, what can we do to support sustainability and Net Zero targets, how can frameworks be used to push climate action and how can we implement some of these strategies at ground level?
We will hear from:
- Martin Kemp, Sustainability Product Manager at BRE
- Chris Clarke, Performance and Improvement Director at Scape
Don’t miss out, book your space now.
Climate Action Group Chair, Annette Boren
Annette Boren, born in Sweden, is currently the Chapter Chairwoman for the Swedish Chamber of Commerce and started her career with Atlas Copco, a Swedish Industrial Group, working internationally with them in her early career.
She has since held a range of marketing and finance positions, from Marketing Manager, Finance Director and CFO to the Head of Finance and Sustainability for Hilti Northern Europe, putting her degree in Marketing and Finance to good use.
Annette is proud to put developing strong relationships at the foundation of everything she does, both professionally and personally, and is passionate about sustainability.
