The COP26 climate change conference took place from 31 October to 12 November 2021. Here are the FMB’s key takeaways from the event.
What is COP26?
You might have heard about the major United Nations climate summit that took place earlier this month in Glasgow. COP26 – which stands for Conference of the Parties, which in short is the governing body of the UN’s work on climate change, brought together delegations from around 200 countries, to seek solutions to our rapidly warming climate.
Why did the FMB take part?
So what is the FMB’s role is in tackling such a massive issue like climate change. Well, it’s quite a vital one, as builders will be at the forefront of delivering the changes needed to make the country more sustainable. Master Builder companies will be insulating the nations homes, fitting them with brand new heating technology and building new energy efficient homes which are fit for the future.
So, what did the FMB do to promote construction?
We continued to champion the Construction Leaderships Council’s National Retrofit Strategy (NRS) which, quite simply, is a plan to help improve the energy efficiency of housing. It’s an important part of the picture in helping the UK reduce carbon emissions. The FMB took part in events at COP26 which helped promote the NRS as well as how construction can play a leading role in reducing emissions.
We supported the push to ‘Build Better Now’
FMB Chief Executive Brian Berry took part in a discussion as part of the UK Green Building Council’s Virtual Pavilion called ‘Build Better Now’.
The online discussion included experts on construction materials and building sustainability. Brian used the opportunity to promote the NRS, which aims to help improve the efficiency of the UK’s draft-prone homes and enable new technology like heat pumps to be installed in them. If the plans in the NRS were introduced they would provide opportunities across the whole of the UK, by creating retrofit jobs to improve most of the UK’s homes.
And it doesn’t have to stop at the UK. As COP26 is an international event involving most of the world’s countries, Brian also made the case for using the NRS as a template in other countries to improve their housing efficiency.
We showcased construction innovation about ‘Building a Greener Britain’
Building a Greener Britain
Building a Greener Britain
Building a Greener Britain
The FMB also led the development of a set of films, showcasing the action that diverse groups across the construction sector are already taking to help the UK go green. Working on behalf of the Construction Leadership Council, with ITN Productions, the project was launched on 11 November, live at the conference. The FMB made sure the voice of the small builder was heard loud and clear.
This set of films was part of ‘Building a Greener Britain’ which was an initiative to promote the exciting new ways the construction industry is helping to tackle climate change. This was a major showcase at COP26 which went out live around the globe and showed how the UK construction industry is stepping up to help reduce its carbon footprint. If you want to more about the FMB and what we’re doing to help with climate change contact [email protected].
