Leading the climate change fight
Landscape architects here in Aotearoa are being urged to get behind a global coalition to try to combat climate change - in the countdown to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) which gets underway this weekend in Glasgow.
The NZILA has ratified the IFLA Climate Action Commitment but NZILA Advocacy Panel member Matthew Bradbury is also urging individual kiwi landscape architects and companies to get behind the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) campaign.
He says it is a great opportunity for landscape architects to make a connection to the many New Zealanders who are concerned about the effects of climate change .
“Communities across Aotearoa are concerned about the effects of sea level rise and flooding and what increased temperature will do to the way they live. Landscape architects have already built projects that will help ameliorate the worst of these effects yet often there is little awareness that landscape architects are responsible for this work.
“With the increased publicity around COP26, this is a great opportunity for landscape architects both in practice and academia to advocate for the profession to play a leading role in climate change adaptation.“
The coalition includes 70,000 landscape architects from Africa, the Middle East, the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. Representing more than 77 nations , they are uniting on a single mission to limit planetary warming to 1.5°.
Members of the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) shared a Climate Action Commitment at their 57th IFLA World Congress this August.
“As landscape architects we can make a tremendous difference to climate change and to climate action through our work so thinking globally but acting locally is critical,” says IFLA President, James Hayter.
You can see the Landscape Architecture Guide to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals here.
“Landscape architects are very critical in providing solutions for climate change because we stand as a bridge between the natural and built environment,” says Sunday Julius Abuje, IFLA Africa.
Through planning, design and management of cities, regions and natural places, the work of landscape architects protects, restores and enhances global ecosystems; fosters human health and well-being; cools the environment; and draws down atmospheric carbon.
COP26 gets underway in Glasgow this weekend.
“We need more landscape architects to champion the move towards environmental sustainability and combating climate change,” says Farimah Sadat Jamali, IFLA Middle East.
The IFLA Climate Action Commitment outlines six key areas for the profession to take climate action: supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Justice, Solutions, Collaboration, Reducing Emissions, and Leadership.
IFLA is collaborating with its global membership and related disciplines to define achievable and actionable outcomes to support the profession in delivering on this commitment.
IFLA is asking landscape architects here to;
SIGN: Commit to taking climate action through landscape architecture by signing on here.
PROMOTE: Spread the word and share in social media how you and your company plans to take the commitments into action.
