Tree-covered mountains rise behind a pile of trash, children run through the...

CNN Climate 4 months ago

Tree-covered mountains rise behind a pile of trash, children run through the orange haze of a dust storm, and a billboard standing on parched earth indicates where the seashore used to be before desertification took hold. These striking images, exhibited as part of the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit, show the devastating effects of climate change. The summit, held at the University of Oxford in the UK and supported by UN Human Rights, aims to reframe climate change as a human rights crisis and spotlight climate solutions. It works with everyone from policymakers to artists to get the message across. "Photographers document the human rights impacts of climate change, helping to inform the public and hold governments and businesses accountable," said Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for the OHCHR, via email. "The Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit shows the power of collective action — uniting storytellers, scientists, indigenous leaders, and others to advance climate solutions rooted in human rights." Tap the link in bio for more. 📸 : Peter Ndung'u/Aung Chan Thar/Hadi Dehghanpour/Betul Simsek/Kristina Varaksina/Sayed Habib Bidell/Aly Song Yang/Viviane Rakotoarivony/Fotografiska

layersDaily Sustainability Digest

Published about 7 hours ago



The sustainable construction sector has demonstrated measured progress this week, with multiple projects advancing low carbon design principles and reinforcing a global shift toward environmental sustainability in construction. The UK finalist for the Earthshot Prize has attracted international attention with its “upcycled skyscraper” concept. The project exemplifies how sustainable building design can decarbonise cities by reusing existing structures rather than rebuilding, cutting embodied carbon in materials and reducing the overall carbon footprint of construction. It shows that net zero whole life carbon targets are achievable when adaptive reuse is supported by rigorous whole life carbon assessment. This approach represents a pivot away from demolition-led development and towards truly circular construction strategies.

G F Tomlinson’s completion of the Barnsley College University Centre modernisation delivers a tangible demonstration of sustainable building practices rooted in lifecycle assessment. The retrofit has safeguarded the building’s Art Deco heritage while integrating a low carbon building methodology that promotes energy-efficient buildings and greener infrastructure. By retaining the original structural frame, the project has cut the embodied carbon of construction, proving that low carbon construction materials and renewable building materials have comparable performance to conventional options when guided by life cycle thinking in construction. The work also highlights the significance of BREEAM and emerging standards such as BREEAM v7 in defining measurable sustainability benchmarks.

In Cambridgeshire, work is commencing on the £500 million Medworth Energy from Waste facility, a major investment designed to support a functioning circular economy in construction and energy supply. Through combined heat and power systems, the development will assist future net zero carbon buildings by providing renewable energy outputs while applying whole life carbon methodologies to reduce lifecycle emissions. Although energy-from-waste has detractors, its integration with eco-design for buildings reinforces its potential as part of wider carbon neutral construction strategies that prioritize resource efficiency in construction and whole life cost management.

At the global level, the announcement of the Earthshot Prize finalists underscores that sustainable design and green construction principles now define the benchmark for engineering relevance. With emphasis on embodied carbon reduction and net zero carbon pursuits, these initiatives promote sustainable urban development grounded in measurable environmental product declarations (EPDs) and transparent assessment of the environmental impact of construction. The shift signifies a maturing understanding that building lifecycle performance is fundamental to both commercial resilience and global climate commitments.

Concerns surrounding delays to the European Union Deforestation Regulation highlight the risk to sustainable material specification. Timber and green building materials remain vital in achieving low embodied carbon materials for eco-friendly construction, and a policy setback could compromise supply chain transparency. Safeguarding sustainable architecture relies on consistent international standards that support end-of-life reuse in construction and drive decarbonising the built environment. The week’s stories collectively show that sustainability in the built environment has evolved beyond aspiration—whole life carbon analysis, circular economy methodologies, and life cycle cost integration are now the practical core of how future cities will be designed and built.

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