Professional institutions agree climate action plan

Ten areas of work identified to help achieve UK’s 2050 net-zero target

The Construction Industry Council (CIC) has launched Carbon Zero: the professional institutions’ climate action plan.

Spearheaded by CIC’s Climate Change Panel, and supported by professional engineering bodies, including CIBSE, the 10-point plan attempts to coordinate the efforts of all relevant built-environment bodies to meet the UK government’s 2050 net-zero emissions targets.

It identifies 10 areas of work, divided into short-, medium-, and longer-term priorities. The signatories have agreed to develop and publish an action implementation programme in time for the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow this November.

They have also agreed to implement actions appropriate to them and support other institutions in delivering actions.

CIBSE technical manager Julie Godefroy said: [The plan] includes significant steps that should deliver real progress towards net zero and climate adaptation, such as joint industry guidance, mandatory CPD, and working with higher education institutions.

‘The plan builds on our own CIBSE Climate Action Plan, first produced in 2019 and presented at the inaugural meeting of the CIC climate change panel. We look forward to continuing our work internally, with our members and other organisations.’