🌍 3 March 2026 marks World Wildlife Day, which highlights wild animals and...

EU Environment and Planet 20 days ago

🌍 3 March 2026 marks World Wildlife Day, which highlights wild animals and plants and underlines the important role of medicinal and aromatic plants in human health and ecological balance.⁣ ⁣ The Greater Virunga Landscape, visible in this #CopernicusEU Sentinel-2 image acquired on 30 July 2025, comprises a transboundary network of protected areas in Central and East Africa. ⁣ ⁣ 🦍 It includes the @virunganationalpark in eastern Democratic Republic of The Congo, the Rwenzori Mountains National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, and the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, as well as the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. ⁣ ⁣ Together, these sites form one of Africa’s most ecologically-rich regions, hosting around 2,000 species. Several of these species have been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years. ⁣ ⁣ The landscape spans diverse ecosystems, including forests, savannahs, wetlands, and volcanic areas, which collectively support high levels of biodiversity and provide important ecological services.⁣ ⁣ 🛰️ Copernicus data support the monitoring of habitats and protected areas, enabling the long-term tracking of ecosystems, land-use change, and biodiversity conservation initiatives. #ImageOfTheDay album 🔗 in the bio!

layersDaily Sustainability Digest

Published about 8 hours ago



Governments are shifting from voluntary measures to regulated mandates as escalating heat and carbon commitments reshape sustainable construction worldwide. The UK’s new National Heat Risk Commission signals that sustainable building design must now integrate overheating resilience as a measurable criterion of environmental sustainability in construction. Global policy trends reinforce this shift, with UN-backed frameworks promoting passive-first, low carbon building strategies across climate-stressed regions.

The Future Homes Hub’s Embodied Carbon and Resource Efficiency Board underscores how embodied carbon and resource efficiency are redefining compliance. Whole life carbon assessment, lifecycle assessment and environmental product declarations (EPDs) are becoming the baseline for sustainable building practices, linking design decisions directly to life cycle cost and long-term performance. The carbon footprint of construction is no longer a theoretical concern but a regulated metric influencing tenders, specifications and procurement standards.

Manufacturers are responding by prioritising low embodied carbon materials and renewable building materials within circular economy strategies. Products supported by verified data on embodied carbon in materials are emerging as preferred options for specifiers pursuing net zero whole life carbon outcomes. Bio-based solutions such as wood fibre insulation now exemplify eco-design for buildings, combining thermal performance with low carbon design that supports energy-efficient buildings and net zero carbon targets.

Across the sector, sustainable material specification and resource efficiency in construction are converging into measurable frameworks aligned with BREEAM and BREEAM v7 standards. These support decarbonising the built environment through circular construction strategies, end-of-life reuse in construction and green building products designed for longer lifecycle performance.

The direction is clear: policy, market and climate conditions are embedding whole life carbon thinking into every stage of sustainable construction. Those leading with verifiable data, sustainable design principles and circular economy in construction models will define the next generation of low-impact, carbon neutral construction aligned with global sustainability goals.

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