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COP26 Expectations
Read this vital series of essays providing multiple perspectives on expected and needed outcomes from COP26.
For COP26, Buildings & Cities presents this major series of 30 short, learned commentaries from the built environment community that are primarily aimed at policy makers. These essays reveal the diversity of issues that need to be embraced and, most importantly, point to constructive approaches to mitigation and adaptation.
The range of topics goes from overarching issues (e.g. overconsumption, geopolitics, intergenerational equity, climate justice, nature-based solutions and long-term thinking - to mention only a few) to more specific issues at the levels of cities and buildings. Lessons and actions can be drawn for different actors in central and local governments, the construction industry supply side, NGOs, higher education and civil society.
Each essay focuses and discusses one vital outcome that is needed from COP26 relating to the built environment. This can be a direct aspect of what should be agreed at COP26 or the impact of COP26 at the national or local levels. A variety of perspectives are presented - from different disciplines, geographies and scales. Taken together, this provides a powerful overview of overarching policy issues and the necessary strategic / practical actions at the societal, urban and building levels.
Were the needs and demands of cities and local governments marginalised in their roles and representation at COP26?
By Harpa Birgisdóttir (Aalborg University Copenhagen, DK)
By Sonja Klinsky (Arizona State University, US) and Anna Mavrogianni (University College London, UK)
By Timon McPhearson (The New School, US)
By Linda K. Westman (University of Sheffield, UK)
By Jason Corburn (University of California, Berkeley, US)
By Thomas Lützkendorf (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, DE), Ursula Hartenberger (PathTo2050, BE), York Ostermeyer (Chalmers U, SE)
By Ellen van Bueren (Delft University of Technology, NL)
By Rohinton Emmanuel (Glasgow Caledonian University, UK)
By Michael Donn (Victoria University Wellington, NZ)
By Christhina Candido, Rebecca Bentley and Samin Marzban (U Melbourne, AU)
By Jonathon Taylor (Tampere U, FI), Lauren Ferguson* , Anna Mavrogianni* & Clare Heaviside* (*University College London, UK)
By Ankit Kumar (U of Sheffield, UK), Joshua Kirshner (U of York, UK), Lata Narayanaswamy (U of Leeds, UK) and Enora Robin (U of Sheffield, UK)
By Wei Yang and Jie Li (Tianjin University, CN)
By Clare Heaviside (University College London - UCL), Jonathon Taylor (UCL & Tampere U), Oscar Brousse (UCL), Charles Simpson (UCL)
By Sarah J. Darby (Oxford University, UK)
By William E. Rees (Professor Emeritus, University of British Columbia, CA)
By Stefan Siedentop (ILS - Research Institute for Regional and Urban Development & TU Dortmund University, DE)
By Maria Balouktsi (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, DE)
By Robin Nicholson CBE (Cullinan Studio and The Edge, UK)
By Raymond J. Cole (University of British Columbia, CA)
By Thomas Lützkendorf (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, DE)
By Magdalena Barborska-Narozny (Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, PL)
By Mark Levine (Senior Advisor, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, US)
By Jeroen van der Heijden (Victoria University of Wellington, NZ and Australian National University, AU)
By Bruno Peuportier (MINES ParisTech, PSL Research University, FR)
Latest Commentaries
Self-Organised Knowledge Space as a Living Lab
While Living Labs are often framed as structured, institutionalised spaces for innovation, Sadia Sharmin (Habitat Forum Berlin) reinterprets the concept through the lens of grassroots urban practices. She argues that self-organised knowledge spaces can function as Living Labs by fostering situated learning, collective agency, and community resilience. The example of a Living Lab in Bangladesh provides a model pathway to civic participation and spatial justice.
Climate Mitigation & Carbon Budgets: Research Challenges
Thomas Lützkendorf (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) explains how the research community has helped to change the climate change policy landscape for the construction and real estate sectors, particularly for mitigating GHG emissions. Evidence can be used to influence policy pathways and carbon budgets, and to develop detailed carbon strategies and implementation. A key challenge is to create a stronger connection between the requirements for individual buildings and the national reduction pathways for the built environment.