‘Given that the government’s new housing plan commits to a doubling of housing output over the coming decade, it is disappointing that it has little to say about climate change.’ Picture: Getty
The government’s 2019 carbon action plan addressed only the first of these, with a focus on retrofitting existing building stock and improving the energy efficiency of new buildings. Given the very significant levels of new construction committed to in the National Development Plan – new homes, roads, wind energy infrastructure and more – this is a significant oversight.
This must be accompanied by the promotion of a circular economy through reusing existing materials and resources, rather than discarding them as waste. If the residential construction sector is to play its part in meeting our 2030 and 2050 emissions reductions targets, we will need to be much more ambitious than this.
In doing so they would directly provide the thousands of new green jobs so essential to achieving a just transition to a zero carbon future.