by Brianna Crandall — November 16, 2016 — U.K.-based international real estate accreditation organization the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is continuing to push for the building industry to lead in achieving its global climate change commitments during the 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP22) underway in Marrakech, Morocco, November 7-18, 2016.
Last year, RICS joined governments, industry and civil society groups at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21), in Paris, France. The global climate change summit, facilitated by the United Nations, delivered a historic agreement when, for the first time, 191 nations committed to collectively addressing the effects of climate change.
The “Paris Agreement” aims to keep the global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius and to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. It was signed by all negotiating countries and has thus far been ratified by 75 member states.
COP21 was said to be historic in delivering a global agreement that saw developed countries, who are among the biggest carbon emitters, and developing countries, who largely suffer the consequences of these emissions, come together to agree that urgent action is needed to curb the effects of climate change.
At COP22 in Morocco, RICS once again fulfils its role as a founding partner in the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GABC), which is a coalition launched last year of over 90 countries and non-state actors mandated to unite the whole built environment value chain to reduce the impact of construction and buildings on the climate.
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Within the GABC, RICS is co-leading a working group with the International Energy Agency (IEA) to investigate how more systematic data collection, consistency and accountability can drive better policymaking and higher levels of energy efficiency investments in buildings.
RICS is encouraging building industry stakeholders to support its COP22 efforts by participating in the GABC’s Data Capture and Management Survey. The survey calls on the whole built environment value chain — such as built environment professionals, policymakers, financing institutions, investors as well as building owners and tenants — to provide insights on the type of data they are currently collect, for what purpose, and the specific challenges they are facing regarding more systematic data capture and management.
According to Ursula Hartenberger, RICS global head of Sustainability:
Buildings Day in Paris gave us a mandate. As professionals we now need to act on it. To track progress on their COP21 commitments, governments and stakeholders alike need solid baseline data and measurement. Our position as a standard-setter and global professional body means we can provide tools and services that will help to create greater consistency and transparency on actual environmental performance.
RICS is working with other professional bodies on international standards that can provide comparable data on property size through International Property Measurement Standards (IPMS) and also through International Construction Measurement Standards (ICMS) to calculate aspects of construction costs. These are vital tools that can provide credible data that will lead to more informed decision-making at policy and investment levels, says RICS.
