UKGBC - Strategy is 'tip of the iceberg'

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The UK Green Building Council has said that the publication today of the Government's Strategy for Sustainable Construction represents just the 'tip of the iceberg' in terms of the efforts required from the industry to combat climate change.

The council welcomed the launch of the document, which brings together a series of industry and government targets in a single document, to improve the sustainability of the industry. 

But it warned that it represented just a small part of the overall effort needed to achieve this.

UK Green Building Council chief executive Paul King said: "This strategy should be welcomed. It has almost unprecedented buy-in from across Government departments, which is good to see.

"It also sets a number of targets, for both Government and the private sector and it's encouraging to see some of the industry associations setting targets for their own members, backed up by a measurement and monitoring process.

"However, this can only be the first step. We need to see a ramping up of ambition, within Government and across the industry if we're to achieve the carbon reductions and responsible use of resources necessary to play our part in stopping run-away climate change.

"The built environment needs to be at the heart of our efforts to slash emissions – not by 60 per cent, the Government target which the strategy endorses, but by 80 per cent by 2050."