"This is all pink and attractive, but we are going to die."
Russian-born American photographer Anastasia Samoylova, whose work is currently on display at both the Met Museum in New York and the Saatchi Gallery in London, has garnered critical acclaim for her subtle, anxiety-inducing images of Florida's collapsing pastel-pink landscapes.
Cracked bubblegum-colored concrete, flooded swimming pools, uprooted palm trees and displaced alligators paint a new, unnerving picture of the climate crisis. Samoylova's images are a far cry from the visual language of starving polar bears and blazing wildfires that often saturate conversation around the environment. "Everything is intertwined," she said. "That's why I think isolating climate change as something detached and abstract, and visually associated with melting ice caps, is very dangerous because we're in the moment right now. Every political decision is going to affect us on this daily basis."
Samoylova believes the medium of photography comes with a responsibility to "reflect on our time." And currently, our time is defined by climate change.
Tap the link in @cnnclimate bio for more.
📸 : Anastasia Samoylova
Technological innovation in sustainable construction is accelerating as global decarbonisation targets grow more urgent. The UK’s Sizewell C nuclear project has secured financial close, reinforcing the integration of low‑carbon energy infrastructure into long‑term national planning and supporting net zero whole life carbon ambitions. Nuclear power remains debated, yet its role in reducing the carbon footprint of construction highlights the importance of reliable clean energy for delivering net zero carbon buildings and low carbon design strategies.
The Environmental Services Association’s proposal to expand energy‑from‑waste plants within urban heat networks illustrates how circular economy in construction principles are advancing. Converting waste output into district heating aligns with circular construction strategies that prioritise resource efficiency in construction and end‑of‑life reuse in construction, turning linear waste streams into carbon‑neutral infrastructure.
Operational shifts such as Sunbelt Rentals’ move to all‑electric depots demonstrate how whole life carbon assessment frameworks are shaping business models. Electrifying high‑energy‑use depots reveals practical progress in reducing embodied carbon and embodied carbon in materials, marking a step toward eco‑friendly construction and broader environmental sustainability in construction. Such initiatives reflect how sustainable building design and sustainable material specification now influence every stage of the building lifecycle performance.
Capital markets are responding with unprecedented commitment to sustainable infrastructure. Global transition‑finance funds have reached $644 billion, signalling growing investor confidence in whole life carbon evaluation, lifecycle assessment, and life cycle cost analysis. Yet delivery depends on regulatory certainty that embeds low carbon building requirements and BREEAM v7 standards into planning systems.
A paradigm shift is underway where climate resilience, sustainable design, and environmental product declarations (EPDs) define the baseline for sustainable building practices. Meeting the scale of change required will rely on accelerating eco‑design for buildings, advancing low carbon construction materials, and achieving measurable carbon footprint reduction across every asset class. The sustainability of the built environment now rests on how decisively policymakers, developers, and engineers decarbonise the systems that construct it.
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.
