Communication to Combat Forest Crime in the Lower Mekong and in China: A Handbook Based on the Findings of the Knowledge, Attitude, Practices Survey on Illegal Logging and Illegal Forest Trade in the Lower Mekong and in China
The Lower Mekong region is rich in biodiversity and forests that are vital for carbon storage. But illegal logging and illegal trade worth billions of dollars each year are causing extensive deforestation and harm to its people, the environment and the economy. Programmatic interventions to counteract forest crime seek to reduce demand for illegal forest products and create sustainable supply chains. In this context, effective communications and behavioural strategies are critical. The KAP score model, used in this handbook, measures knowledge, attitude, and practice related to forest crime and provides a step-by-step guide for designing communications interventions and behavioural change strategies to address illegal logging, illegal trade and other serious threats to the region's lush forests. An online version of this handbook is accessible at: www.un-redd.org/kaphandbook
Climate risk is redrawing geotechnical baselines as permafrost degrades at unprecedented rates, with active layers thickening by more than 36 cm a year in some mountain regions. Foundations, utilities and transport corridors in high latitudes and altitudes face accelerated differential settlement and service disruption. Developers are embedding climate‑driven ground risk into whole life carbon assessment, lifecycle assessment and life cycle cost models to safeguard building lifecycle performance and reduce the environmental impact of construction. Resilience planning is becoming inseparable from sustainable building design, sustainable construction and low carbon design aligned to BREEAM and the expectations shaping BREEAM v7.
London’s commercial market is tilting decisively to adaptive reuse. The 75 London Wall redevelopment demonstrates that retaining structure can deliver Grade A outcomes while slashing embodied carbon and the carbon footprint of construction. Design teams are prioritising embodied carbon in materials, low embodied carbon materials and renewable building materials through sustainable material specification supported by Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). Circular economy in construction is moving into day‑to‑day practice via end‑of‑life reuse in construction, circular construction strategies and eco‑design for buildings, strengthening the route to net zero whole life carbon, carbon neutral construction and measurable carbon footprint reduction.
Industrialised methods are scaling across the Benelux, with offsite manufacturing improving resource efficiency in construction, reducing waste and enabling energy‑efficient buildings. Modular delivery and green building products can cut programme emissions, provided procurement and regulation recognise factory time and low carbon construction materials. Stronger oversight of workmanship in the UK is set to bolster mass retrofit, building trust in sustainable building practices that support net zero carbon buildings, green construction, green infrastructure and sustainable urban development.
Leaders are converging resilience and circularity into one brief: integrate climate‑related ground risk into asset strategy, make reuse the default, and industrialise quality to decarbonise the built environment while delivering sustainable design and low carbon building outcomes consistent with whole life carbon goals and net zero carbon.
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