The CIB is a signatory to this new consensus from a powerful coalition of international associations, which was published on October 1st 2020 after many months and years of collaborative effort. We express our gratitude and appreciation to the working party.
“Nothing less than a transformative and united worldwide effort from all stakeholders of the construction sector is required for human society to be successful in sustainable development, and in the mitigation of the disastrous consequences of climate change at global and local scales”. This is the central message of the GLOBE Consensus, which was recently launched by an international group of experts representing seven of the leading cross-sector associations in the domain of construction engineering . GLOBE stands for Global Consensus on Sustainability in the Built Environment and it highlights the global challenges associated with the built environment as a main contributor to climate change.
The GLOBE Consensus is aimed at societal decision makers and professionals in the construction industry and calls for a coordinated and joint effort to counter global climate change. The objective is to make players in the construction area aware of their enormous responsibility; GLOBE puts sustainability in the construction sector and the built environment on the global agenda – at the same level of importance as safety and durability. The consensus document further addresses facilitators and suggests clear actions, which need to be implemented urgently.
“Sustainability and mitigation of climate change is a global challenge that must be addressed in a global collaborative and focused effort, and this is what the GLOBE Consensus is really all about”, according to Prof. Michael Havbro Faber, President of the Joint Committee on Structural Safety, Aalborg University, Denmark.
“With increasing urbanization and construction demand and more and more limited resources, the construction industry and the profession of civil engineers become the most relevant drivers for positive socio-economical and environmental developments and more sustainable processes. Nevertheless, most actors are not even aware of their individual role and responsibility in this challenge. Therefore, the GLOBE consensus is a milestone, which directly addresses all actors in the entire built environment and encourages them to become change agents towards a better future perspective”, Dr. Dipl.-Ing. Wolfram Schmidt (BAM) states, who studies local material solutions for global challenges.
“Global warming is the major challenge facing humanity. Everything must be done to lower emissions, and the built environments represents a major part of embodied CO2”, Prof. Karen Scrivener (EPFL) states, who is a leading expert in sustainable cement and production technology.
Judith Hardy, who is Secretary General of RILEM and wholeheartedly dedicated a lot of effort into the successful finalization of GLOBE said: “I am pleased to support the GLOBE action and to provide through RILEM the service to spread the word amongst scientists and practitioners.”
The expert group strongly proposes that a globally composed task force is established and mandated to support supranational and national policy makers with respect to sustainable development in the construction sector and the built environment. As of November 2020 the coalition is taking steps to deliver on this recommendation.
More detailed information on the GLOBE Consensus may be found on the GLOBE homepage where translations of the GLOBE Consensus may also be found in other languages including English, Chinese, Spanish, Kiswahili, Russian, German and Portuguese, with more language translations in progress.
The expert group represents these seven leading international associations:
- IABSE – International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering
- Fib – The International Federation for Structural Concrete
- RILEM – International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Construction Materials, Systems and Structures
- CIB – International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction
- ECCS – European Convention for Constructional Steel Work
- IASS – International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures.
More information is available here and a page to sign up to the Consensus, whether as an individual or organisation, can be accessed here. And any CIB member interested in engaging with the GLOBE task group through CIB’s role should contact the CIB secretariat.
