Green bodies launch circular economy drive – Image from leolintang-Shutterstock
The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) is inviting organisations onto a task group shaping the content for a work programme promoting circular economy principles in construction.
This project will identify the main barriers for a systemic shift from a linear to a circular economy in the construction sector, including what infrastructure will be needed to overcome those barriers.
The task group will be identifying which systems the industry operates in and what the decision points and industry needs are for making the shift towards a circular economy.
Owing to the nature of the project, applications are sought from a broad range of membership, including local authorities, policy specialists, government, engineers, architects, consultants, academia and anyone with knowledge of circular economy and systems thinking.
Access the Task Group Call for Applications document below for more information on the objectives, time commitment, and how to apply.
The deadline for applications is 3rd June. The task group will be capped at a practical size, but additional consultation opportunities will be available throughout the project process. Please email [email protected] to be added to the climate resilience interest group and alerted of future opportunities.
Global programme
In related news, the UKGBC’s umbrella body, the World Green Building Council, announced a global programme to accelerate the adoption of circular economy and resource efficiency principles in the building and construction sector.
Circularity Accelerator is a WorldGBC global programme to catalyse the adoption of circular economy and resource efficiency in the building and construction sector.
To tackle the climate and resource impact of the built environment and to support the ambitions of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris agreement, WorldGBC’s Circularity Accelerator convenes the WorldGBC network of 70-plus green building councils and their 36,000 members to work towards WorldGBC’s circularity and resource efficiency goals.
Cristina Gamboa, CEO, of WorldGBC, said: “The UN has reported we have a 50% chance of exceeding 1.5°C of global heating in the next five years. Over one-third of the materials used globally are for buildings, but less than 9% of global materials consumed are kept in productive cycles of use.
"The impact of this resource use — associated GHG emissions and pollution and plunging biodiversity — accelerates climate change and the decline of life-sustaining ecosystem services such as the maintenance of clean water and productive soils. These impacts unequally affect the most vulnerable communities and economies around the world. But that can and must change.
"To scale the implementation of resource efficiency solutions as we approach COP27, our new Circularity Accelerator programme is already bringing together experts and leaders from across our Green Building Council network to drive the implementation of resource efficiency actions to scale sustainable built environments for everyone, everywhere.”
