MAKING IT HAPPEN
Looking at the timeline produced by the Edge for Futurebuild in 2020 and reviewed today, 5 years’ later, we have known for many years about the impact of climate change and the likely consequences, what needs to be done and also how to do it. And yet, here we are in 2025 with the window for action closing with a concerning degree of dithering when it comes to taking action and making impact. We know that there are government legal commitments to achieving targets by some key not very distant dates – 2030, 2035 and 2050. The Climate Change Committee has also shown that we are not going to meet our targets for emissions reduction or even tree planting.
The sessions today consider how those working in the built and natural environment can improve on this situation through a combination of legislation and competence and positive actions those delivering.
Edge Debate 181:
What should the New Towns Taskforce consider to deliver the best outcomes?
6th March 2025, 13.15 – 14.15
For this session, let us imagine that we have that ‘comprehensive land use framework’ as discussed in an earlier session, with its attendant broad spectrum of data along with integrated national infrastructure, transport, energy and industrial and green framework strategies and so can now consider what the New Towns Taskforce should take into account in identifying where to site new towns. In order to make the right decisions it is essential to assess the risks involved and many of these may be interrelated i.e. having the right infrastructure capacity such as the national grid, having effective sustainable transport and active travel routes, having the necessary resource capacity especially water and sewerage, having access to jobs and employment and, very importantly, ensuring that development both protects and improves nature and green infrastructure connectivity as well as ensuring that the new town citizens have abundant access to nature for their health and well-being.
Chair: Lord Matthew Taylor, Executive Director, Taylor and Garner
What we have learned from developing new towns in the past
Duncan Bowie,
Employment and economic opportunities
Jackie Sadek, Chair, UK Innovation Corridor
Thriving nature, thriving places, thriving people
Clare Warburton, Deputy Director for Sustainable Development Natural England
Ensuring that the critical infrastructure is in place
Judith Sykes, CEO, Useful Simple Trust, Senior Director, Expedition and Member of the National Infrastructure Commission’s Design Group
Edge Debate 182:
Looking back, looking forward – are we doing enough?
6th March 2025, 14.45-15.45
Reviewing 20 years of Futurebuild/Ecobuild conference programmes we see that steps have been made towards achieving sustainability, climate change and nature goals, this last being a feature of more recent years, and then a concerning number of steps backwards.
The UK established world leadership in climate action with the passing of the Climate Change Act in 2008 along with the establishment of the Climate Change Committee (CCC), a non- departmental public body which advises the government on emissions targets through the carbon budget and reports to Parliament on progress made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In its report of July 2024 the CCC said that
“Our assessment is that the previous Government’s policies and plans were insufficient to
achieve the UK’s targets in the 2030s. There were a few good developments in some areas in the
past year. However, policy reversals and delays in other areas, together with inconsistent
messaging, have hindered progress just when acceleration was needed. With the 2030 target
only six years away, and the impacts of climate change intensifying, rapid action is needed to
get things back on track.”
In his speech to COP 29, the Prime Minister confirmed that the government will meet the targets of an 81% cut in emissions by 2035 as set by the CCC.
Meanwhile 2024 was the hottest year on record impacting both human health and wellbeing and accelerating habit loss.
So, what have we achieved (or not) to date and how can we now make the progress that is urgently needed? As we said in the introduction to this Arena programme “this is no time for dithering”.
Chair: Smith Mordak, Chief Executive, UK Green Building Council
The energy challenge
Tadj Oreszczyn, Professor of Energy and Environment at the UCL Energy Institute, founding Director of the UCL Energy Institute (2009) and the Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources (BSEER) (2014)
The biodiversity and nature restoration challenge
Anusha Shah, Senior Director, Resilient Cities and UK Climate Adaptation Lead- Arcadis,
The climate adaptation challenge
Polly Turton, Head of Climate Action and Public Health at Love Design Studio/Shade the UK
The construction industry challenge
James Low, Global Head of Responsible Business, Mace (confirmed)
The Carbon Budget Challenge
Dr Emily Nurse, Head of Net Zero, Climate Change Committee