Climate Change
ENVIRONMENT
Recorded by Sofie Pelsmakers, images by Essi Nisonen
KEY READINGS
Climate Change: A Very Short Introduction, Mark Maslin, Oxford University Press
This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate, Naomi Klein, Simon & Schuster
Design Studio Volume 1: Everything
Needs to Change: Architecture and
the Climate Emergency, Sofie Pelsmakers and Nick Newman, RIBA
Healthy Placemaking: Wellbeing Through Urban Design,
Fred London, RIBA
Planning for Climate Change: A Reader in Green Infrastructure and Sustainable Design for Resilient Cities, Hamin Infeld, Elisabeth M., Abunnasr, Yaser and Ryan, Robert L., Routledge
The Uninhabitable Earth: A Story of the Future, Wallace-Wells David, Penguin
IPCC report and summaries, www.ipcc.ch/sr15/
UN Sustainable Development Goals, ‘Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
The Green Belt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experience, Maathai Wangari, Lantern Books
The Environmental Design Pocketbook, by Pelsmakers, S., RIBA
Designing for the Climate Emergency, a Guide for Architecture Students by Pelsmakers, S., Donovan, E., Hoggard, A., Kozminska, U., RIBA
INSPIRATIONAL BUILT EXAMPLES
Barcelona super blocks, Spain
Vauban, Freiburg, Germany
Hammarby Sjostad, Stockholm, Sweden
Turenscape – Liupanshui Minghu Wetland Park, China
The Climate City, Middelfart, Denmark
Lendager Group, UN17 Village, Copenhagen, Denmark
CLIMATE CHANGE
Globally, governments agreed to limit global heating to a maximum of 1.5°C rise but we are on track for 2.8°C global heating by 2100 because of insufficiently ambitious policy commitments (or not meeting them). But each fraction of a degree reduced, matters to reduce the severity of the impacts. The effects of climate change include hotter temperatures, the warming and acidification of the oceans, severe storms, increased drought, and a loss of species. Northern Europe is projected to face stronger winter warming, while Southern Europe will experience more severe summer warming. Urban areas face specific risks, with urban heat islands exacerbating extreme temperatures, impermeable ground surfaces increasing flood risk, and a loss of urban green space contributing to the degradation of land and biodiversity. To minimise the impact of climate change on the environment, actions should prioritise:
• protecting and enhancing ecosystems and biodiversity.
• careful land-use decisions that avoid destruction of forests, greenfields and other areas of biodiversity.
• rewilding cities and increasing green and blue infrastructures.
• ensuring a just transition.
All our actions should aim for the best climate future. Even if it is (still) legal to do less than that, we have a moral obligation and responsibility to do better.