The weakness of planning legislation and building code is particularly concerning in the context of climate change and resilience especially when considered in terms of risk and vulnerability (Figure 4), and the lack of mandatory energy codes in many parts of the Commonwealth (Figure 18). Data from the International Energy Agency reveals the fact that 69% of Commonwealth countries have no mandatory energy codes for non-residential buildings while 81% have no such codes for residential buildings (see Appendix VI). Figure 18 Map of building energy codes by jurisdiction, 2018-1931
Mandatory for entire sector Mandatory for part of sector Mandatory for part of sector in major city Voluntary for part of sector Code in development No known code
The latter is particularly concerning when one considers the urgent need for industrialised countries to dramatically reduce their carbon emissions and for those countries which are rapidly urbanising to do so in a sustainable manner. Figure 19 illustrates the scale of the challenge being faced, with countries such as Australia (86% urbanised) currently producing 15.4 tonnes of CO2 per capita per annum and urbanising at 1.7% per annum compared with Uganda (24% urbanised) currently producing 0.1 tonnes of CO2 per capita per annum and urbanising at 6.2% per annum. The scale of the challenge becomes even more apparent when one considers that the 20 countries responsible for producing circa half of the Commonwealths total CO2 emissions comprise approximately 250 million people while the remaining 50% of the Commonwealth, which is rapidly urbanising, comprises 2.3 billion people. It is for this reason that the Commonweath Association of Architects has recently become a member of the Global Alliance for Building and Construction32, to help advocate for more appropriate regulation combined with effective implementation and enforcement.
31 Image taken from IEA (2019c), Energy efficiency policies: Buildings,
Figure 19
www.iea.org/topics/energyefficiency/policies/buildings. 32 https://globalabc.org/
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CO2 per capita v rates of urbanisation
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Planning for climate change and rapid urbanisation