š„µ Sweltering nights are over 20x more frequent in Paris today than they were the last time Paris hosted the Olympics, 100 years ago.
What are the risks of extreme and humid heat?
š§ When relative humidity is over 60%, sweat evaporates more slowly, which makes it harder for the body to cool down quickly enough to prevent overheating.
āļø Exposure to extreme heat can lead to heat-related illness ācausing heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and in some cases fatal heat stroke.
If we want to keep the tradition of summer and winter Olympics games alive for future generations we need to hold polluters accountable for their emissions now.
Sources:
āParis: 100 Years of Olympic Warmingā by Climate Central
āExtreme āheat domeā hitting Olympics āimpossibleā without global heatingā by Damian Carrington for the Guardian
Sustainable construction is accelerating towards measurable decarbonisation as innovation, policy, and supply chain governance begin to align. In London, bioābased wallboards such as Adaptavateās Breathaboardāused in Legal & Generalās new headquartersādemonstrate how low embodied carbon materials with environmental product declarations (EPDs) are entering largeāscale deployment. This marks a shift from theory to delivery in ecoāfriendly construction and underscores the importance of Whole Life Carbon Assessment across sustainable building design.
UK policy now links agriculture and the built environment through a Ā£240āÆmillion expansion of the Sustainable Farming Incentive, improving soil health and cutting reliance on highācarbon fertilisers. These measures support decarbonising the built environment and address the embodied carbon in materials central to net zero Whole Life Carbon targets. As scrutiny of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol exposes inconsistencies in corporate carbon reporting, reliable lifecycle assessment frameworks are becoming critical to verifying low carbon building outcomes and aligning procurement with sustainable material specification.
Growth in renewables, driven by projections of a fourfold expansion in offshore wind capacity by 2035, is reshaping operational emissions and strengthening the foundation for carbon neutral construction and energyāefficient buildings designed under BREEAMāÆV7 guidelines. This integration of renewable building materials and design principles reflects a more mature phase in the industryās evolution towards net zero carbon buildings and a functioning Circular Economy in construction.
The sectorās trajectory points towards verified performance, where Whole Life Carbon, Life Cycle Cost, and transparent building lifecycle performance replace aspirations with measurable delivery. The transition from demonstration to largeāscale adaptation defines modern environmental sustainability in construction, confirming that the next decade will test implementation rather than intent across every level of sustainable building practices and green construction worldwide.
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