«Adirewarning about the consequences of inaction» The construction sector is not solely responsible for climate change, by any means. Nevertheless, Charles Kibert, Director of the Powell Center for Construction and Environment at the University of Florida, emphasizes that “activities linked to the building and construction sector and the completion of its projects constitute 60% of the climate change problem.” There is a substantial impact that can be seen throughout the lifetime of a building, including its construction and everyday use. Professor Kibert, who is also the author of the seminal publication Sustainable Construction: Green Building Design and Delivery, highlights that it’s imperative to take urgent action. As does South Korean economist Hoesung Lee, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC’s Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability report is described by the economist as “a dire warning about the consequences of inaction.” The $2,004 trillion cost of climate-change related disasters According to Hans-Otto Pörtner, who co-chairs the IPCC Working Group II with Hoesung Lee: “Any additional delay in taking concerted worldwide action will be a missed opportunity to ensure a viable future”. The facts are there for all to see: the very survival of mankind is now at stake. According to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the number of natural disasters has increased fivefold over the past 50 years, and the cost of these incidents has increased by 30% in 20 years. Between 2000 and 2019, the total economic impact of climate change-related disasters rose to $2,004 trillion, of which $1,206 trillion was linked to storms. Periods of intense heat have become increasingly frequent in recent years, and among the 197 member states of the United Nations, 168 have declared themselves under threat of desertification. Meanwhile, the number of floods has more than doubled in the past 20 years. As a result of these environmental disasters, 254 million people have been displaced in the past decade. According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 60% of the displaced resettle in urban areas. Is Jakarta about to disappear off the map? The world’s sea levels are rising and 40% of the Indonesian capital Jakarta is already below sea level, with the districts closest to the seafront sinking by 25-30 centimeters per year. The World Economic Forum has estimated that 95% of roads in this Southeast Asian megacity could be under water by 2050. In the face of this reality, the Indonesian parliament passed a law in early 2022 authorizing the creation of a new capital 2,000 km away, on the island of Borneo. It’s named Nusantara - which means “archipelago” in Indonesian. Bangkok, Thailand; Dhaka, Bangladesh; Lagos, Nigeria; and Alexandria, Egypt are other cities that, by the year 2100, could also find themselves with large stretches covered by water, rendering them uninhabitable. Cities occupy only 2% of the Earth's surface but emit nearly 70% of greenhouse gases. 8 SAINT-GOBAIN
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