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TO ACHIEVE GREEN GOALS, WE NEED TO RETHINK SYSTEMIC CHANGE, CIRCULAR ECONOMIES, AND CLIMATE ACTION
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he world is currently facing one of the most decisive moments in human history. With rising temperatures converging with a global pandemic linked to environmental degradation, we now have to make a choice: to prioritize sustainability on all fronts or risk extinction. And as naturally self-preserving beings, the latter is not an option. That is why the global community has, to a significant extent, sought to pursue green objectives - beginning with the Earth Summit of Rio de Janeiro in 1992, to the recent Paris Climate Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of 2015. These highly ambitious goals for the environment seek to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions - that is, the 10
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release of gases such as carbon dioxide which deplete the ozone layer and result in the heating up of the earth. They also seek to cut back on environmental degradation and conserve natural habitats and resources - including oceans and forests. The real estate industry is a prime culprit in the current climate crisis. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, about 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions are directly linked to buildings. Besides, the production of the energy needed to sustain them - that is, electricity and heat - takes up another 25%. And in highly industrialized countries like the United States and parts of Europe, buildings account for 40% of emissions. THE POWER IS NOW MAGAZINE | MAY 2021
