There's a saying that in a big city you are never more than six feet away from a rat. It's an urban myth, but scientists are warning cities across the globe are becoming far rattier, and the boom is primarily driven by one factor: climate change.
Jonathan Richardson, a biology professor at the University of Richmond, decided to research urban rat trends after seeing media reports of rats taking over cities. These tended to focus on single locations and "usually without a lot of hard data," he told CNN.
He and his team decided to change that. They requested rat stats from the 200 biggest US cities by population, but found only 13 had the quality long-term data they needed. To give more geographical range, the researchers also included three international cities: Toronto, Tokyo and Amsterdam. The data collected spanned an average of 12 years and comprised rat sightings, trappings and inspection reports.
It revealed "significant increasing trends" in rat numbers in 11 of the 16 cities, according to their study, published Friday in the journal Science Advances.
The study linked rat increases to several factors, including high population densities and low amounts of urban vegetation, but the predominant influence was warmer average temperatures.
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📸: Nick Lachance/Toronto Star/Getty Images
A recent survey shows that most large businesses are failing to incorporate climate risks into new construction projects. This exposes developments to flood and extreme weather damage while undermining efforts to reach net zero Whole Life Carbon. Insurers are increasingly pressing for resilience planning, and the lack of a Whole Life Carbon Assessment in early project stages leaves significant risks unaddressed. Developers treating Embodied Carbon as a marginal issue face higher long-term costs rather than true Life Cycle Cost control.
Institutional capital is rapidly shifting towards sustainable construction, moving beyond climate risk debates to fund resilience and low carbon design. This trend is unlocking investment in sustainable building design and net zero carbon buildings, aligning financial flows with environmental sustainability in construction. For developers, demonstrating life cycle thinking in construction and proving reduced Embodied Carbon in materials is becoming critical to accessing large-scale finance.
The University of Derby has launched the Institute of Carbonomics to advance research in reducing emissions across industries. While broader in scope, the initiative is set to influence eco-design for buildings and sustainable architecture, embedding lifecycle assessment and sustainable building practices into commercial decision-making. Its outputs are expected to shape climate-smart construction by linking resource efficiency in construction to Whole Life Carbon reduction strategies.
Private investment momentum is also growing. Gresham House’s acquisition of clean energy investor SUSI Partners increases its capacity to fund green infrastructure, net zero carbon projects, and Circular Economy in construction approaches. This creates deeper capital pools for low carbon building technologies and renewable building materials, enabling more developers to pursue carbon neutral construction without prohibitive upfront costs.
Consumer demand reinforces this momentum. Rising energy costs are driving homeowners towards energy-efficient buildings and eco-friendly construction upgrades, accelerating adoption of green building products and smart retrofitting. For construction firms, this highlights a profitable pathway where sustainable building practices align with direct financial savings, embedding sustainable material specification as a market-driven necessity.
The “Nature in Contracts” initiative, supported by the UK Green Building Council, signals growing attention to biodiversity and the environmental impact of construction within procurement frameworks. By embedding nature-positive clauses, developers are being pushed towards circular construction strategies, sustainable urban development, and environmental product declarations (EPDs). This integration signals a future where green construction becomes inseparable from legal and financial compliance, sharpening the focus on Embodied Carbon in materials and building lifecycle performance.
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