Anzeige• 🇪🇺 Most EU citizens live near a protected Natura2000 site …...

EU Environment and Planet 5 months ago

Anzeige• 🇪🇺 Most EU citizens live near a protected Natura2000 site … and don’t even know it. 🌿 All the photos in this post were taken in my home region – within 30 km of where I live. 🫶 Some literally right outside my front door. They show landscapes from smaller and larger Natura2000 sites like the Bienwald and the Pfälzerwald – areas that are not just beautiful, but vital for protecting biodiversity in Europe. 🌲 I’m proud to support the @ourplanet_eu campaign to raise awareness for Natura2000 … a network of protected areas across Europe that help preserve our most valuable habitats and species. 🐾 But here’s the problem:
👉 81% of Europe’s protected habitats are in poor condition.
We’re losing what makes our landscapes so unique – sometimes without even realizing it. You don’t have to travel far to find wild beauty.
It might be just around the corner or right in your city.🏙️ 🗺 Want to know what’s protected near you?
Check the Natura2000 viewer: natura2000.eea.europa.eu
Or use the Natura2000 chatbot to discover the species that live next to you. Because only what we know, we can protect. 💚 *Advertisement #naturephotography #landscapephotography #nature

layersDaily Sustainability Digest

Published about 10 hours ago



The UK construction sector displayed meaningful movement toward sustainability and measurable decarbonisation during the past week. The Alliance for Sustainable Building Products strengthened the ACAN Circular Economy Policy Campaign, signalling stronger support for circular economy in construction. The partnership aims to embed life cycle thinking in construction through improved material reuse, reduced reliance on virgin resources, and end-of-life reuse in construction. This approach reinforces sustainable construction practices by shifting attention to building lifecycle performance and whole life carbon assessment, ensuring that sustainability becomes measurable through transparent carbon data from design to demolition.

Equans, the energy and services arm of Bouygues, achieved Building a Safer Future ‘Champion’ status, demonstrating both compliance and leadership in sustainable building design. The recognition highlights its role in retrofit projects where embodied carbon in materials and life cycle cost carry weight equal to financial metrics. Equans’ work in regenerating existing housing stock supports low carbon design and promotes net zero whole life carbon outcomes, setting a benchmark for green construction that integrates resource efficiency in construction with rigorous whole life carbon analysis.

A key development came from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, whose review of energy-from-waste processes pinpointed plastic’s lingering presence in material streams. The proposed reforms encourage a shift toward renewable building materials and more responsible waste strategies, aligning with environmental sustainability in construction goals and reducing the carbon footprint of construction. The review also stresses that circular construction strategies contribute to net zero carbon buildings, supporting eco-friendly construction systems and reducing environmental impact through lifecycle assessment and whole life carbon metrics.

Climate Analytics advanced the conversation on decarbonising the built environment by urging major global polluters in cement and fossil fuel industries to fund direct air carbon capture and storage. By placing financial responsibility on carbon-intensive producers, sustainable material specification and embodied carbon reduction become drivers for cost management and carbon footprint reduction. The anticipated result is a market environment that rewards low embodied carbon materials and low carbon construction materials, providing long-term life cycle cost benefits while propelling the transition to carbon neutral construction.

Further evidence of circular economy integration emerged from research into telecommunications infrastructure, demonstrating that applying eco-design for buildings principles across all built assets—including masts and modular structures—can deliver both sustainability and economic return. The study supports life cycle cost optimisation and reinforces green building products as viable contributors to sustainable urban development. Across every project, from retrofits to new builds, the emphasis is moving decisively toward sustainable building practices that deliver measurable outcomes in carbon reduction, resource efficiency, and net zero carbon performance within the broader fabric of an environmentally responsible and resilient construction sector.

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Whole Life Carbon is a platform for the entire construction industry—both in the UK and internationally. We track the latest publications, debates, and events related to whole life guidance and sustainability. If you have any enquiries or opinions to share, please do get in touch.