The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference—more commonly referred to as COP27—is underway. Now in its 27th year, COP assembles delegates from nearly 200 nations to discuss and evaluate the global response to some of our most pressing climate issues.
The two-week event has always been designed to create a forum for negotiations between players in attendance. This year hasn’t come without its own conflicts: Developing nations arrived at COP27 prepared to seek compensation from rich countries that have been the primary contributors to worldwide climate change. In response, industrialized nations have raised questions and concerns about boundaries, expectations, and impact along the way.
Still, the effort has already proven effective. Before the first week of COP27 was over, several European nations pledged funds to address climate-caused loss and damage in developing countries. With another week left of official negotiations, there’s plenty of time for further movement on the issue that has become a central focus of this year’s event.
Buildings on the Agenda at COP27
COP also facilitates the exploration of ideas that are crucial to improving global environmental outcomes. This year, new attention is being paid to the climate consequences of our built environment, largely due to the Building to COP Coalition. Formed last year at COP26, the group consists of a dozen NGOs and organizations working in partnership with UN climate leaders to elevate discussions of buildings and construction (as well as their significant contributions to carbon emissions around the world) at each year’s event.
In the words of the Building to COP Coalition itself, “The building and construction sector’s demand on natural resources accelerates climate change, and inefficient, unhealthy buildings negatively impact human health and wellbeing.”
It’s hard to be more direct than that. Buildings have a massive impact on climate and something needs to be done about it. That’s why Building to COP is leading conversations to discuss the role of buildings in climate resilience and decarbonization, as well as ways to finance a zero-emissions built environment. At the same time, the coalition is working to involve more businesses and cities in the UN’s Race to Zero, which engages participants in active planning toward the goal of zero emissions.
New Awareness for Essential Resources
Solutions that make our buildings more sustainable are core to Catalyst Power’s work. Distributed energy resources can be powerful in reducing emissions from the built environment, but they’ve gone overlooked in far too many attempts to combat the climate crisis. That’s what makes initiatives like Building to COP essential, and it’s an important step in the right direction to see more serious consideration at high levels toward the ways that businesses, cities, countries, and regions can facilitate environmentally responsible operations for existing buildings.
In terms of time, money, and environmental impact, it’s unrealistic and irresponsible to suggest that we start over again by building newer, greener cities from the ground up. The only reasonable solution is to adapt the buildings we already have and ensure they operate in alignment with the sustainable future we need. Movements like the Building to COP Coalition are at work to generate new attention and investment for this critical element of the global effort against climate change—and in the fight to solve a problem of this magnitude, every step toward greater awareness and adoption is critical.
COP27 officially continues through Friday, Nov. 18. Follow the discussion of our worldwide built environment throughout the event at #BuildingToCOP27.
