Date: Friday, 4 December 2015
COP21: Global Building
Alliance launched at inaugural Buildings Day
·
This
Global Alliance brings together a group of stakeholders, including RICS, who
want to change how buildings impact on our climate.
·
As
founding member, RICS makes commitment to influence members, governments and
partners to reduce the impact of buildings on the climate
·
Boris
Johnson, Mayor of London applauds RICS’s efforts to discuss future cities and
sustainable investment.
·
Narendra
Modi at COP21: lack of skills is a key barrier to development in emerging
economies
PARIS: Governments, building and construction organisations and
funding agencies came together to launch the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction, of which RICS is a
founding member. The Alliance is a worldwide building sector network backed
by the governments of France, Germany, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Cameroon
and Senegal amongst others. The Alliance was launched at the first ever United
Nations (UN) Buildings Day, held on 3rd
December as part of the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21),
where governments are negotiating a new agreement to mitigate climate change.
The Alliance is a joint initiative between the French Government as host of
COP21 and the UN’s Environment Programme.
The
alliance is committed to:
In particular, RICS professionals will play a
central role in mobilising capital for investment in energy efficient and
sustainable buildings.
In a letter, Boris Johnson, Mayor of London
said: “Global cities such as London and Paris must lead the way in green
infrastructure. All this requires expertise, standards of professional
practice, and effective regulation of built
and natural environment professionals. I
am delighted that RICS is gathering its senior membership at COP21 to discuss
future cities and sustainable investment.”
As a global body
with an extensive network of professionals, RICS will contribute to the alliance
in the following ways
1.
RICS has
committed to work with its professionals to drive down emissions throughout the
property lifecycle.
2.
The commitments
made by governments at COP21 require consistent instruments to monitor and
measure progress. RICS promotes
international standards that measure buildings and construction materials
consistently, and that underpin global climate goals. These standards are
implemented and regulated by RICS professionals the world over.
3.
RICS, through
initiatives such as the RICS School for the Built Environment in India, is
addressing the skills gap and is building capacity for professionals on areas
such as sustainability, energy efficiency, building resilience among other
things. This is particularly important in the light of Indian Prime Minister,
Narendra Modi’s comments at COP21 that the lack of skills is a key barrier to
development in emerging economies.
Commenting about the importance of
climate change commitment in India -
Mr. Sean Tompkins, CEO, RICS said. “India is at the forefront of the Climate Change commitments. Having
met officials from Ministry of Environment today, Government’s focus on
education & skills development to meet its smart cities ambition and
climate change commitments is clear.”
Mr. Sachin Sandhir, Global Managing Director -
Emerging Business, RICS said. “Indian buildings and cities are large
contributors of CO2. India’s announcement to invest of INR 9500 Million in
sustainable cities is commendable. As a public interest body, RICS strives to
support government by contributing professionals who can deploy this money
efficiently & shape these future cities.”
In India, RICS contributes in skills development through RICS
School of Built Environment (SBE), Amity University – an industry backed institution,
which offers specialised education for real estate, construction &
infrastructure management.
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Note to editors:
Read
our thought leadership on COP 21:
·
Impacting on the future of every person on the planet
by Sean Tompkins, RICS Chief Executive Officer
·
The cost of change: saving the climate is not cheap
by Simon Rubinsohn, RICS Chief Economist
·
Collective action: achieve more, and faster
by
Curt Garrigan, Coordinator, Sustainable Buildings and Climate Initiative,
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
About RICS:
RICS promotes and enforces the highest professional qualifications and standards in the development and management of land, real estate, construction and infrastructure. Our name promises the consistent delivery of standards – bringing confidence to the markets we serve. We accredit 118,000 professionals and any individual or firm registered with RICS is subject to our quality assurance. With offices covering the major political and financial centres of the world, our market presence means we are ideally placed to influence policy and embed professional standards. We work at a cross-governmental level, delivering international standards that will support a safe and vibrant marketplace in land, real estate, construction and infrastructure, for the benefit of all.
