Are national and city governments really doing enough about air pollution?

Floods, riots, market crashes: the risks that cities face grow with every new day. But preparing for their impact, and ensuring the city can get back on its feet quickly, needs one person to bang heads, force decisions and generally take responsibility.

Where will your business be in 10, 20 or even 50 years? What impact will issues of human rights, corruption or the environment have on your local, or global business?

By 2050 our sector needs to reduce its carbon emissions by 84 billion tonnes. It’s a big challenge but the industry is responding.

Flooding is becoming more frequent and less predictable. How can we adapt to this ‘new normal’?

An RICS research report and online tool will help the built environment sector in eight European countries to determine the risk and impact climate change will have on non-domestic, or commercial, buildings.

At the RICS World Built Environment Forum Summit in Washington DC, Prashant Kapoor, Principal Industry Specialist (Green Buildings) at the International Finance Corporation, pointed to the fact that 90 countries had recognised the importance of emissions from buildings in their COP21 commitments, as evidence of high ambition. Investment flows would be a key indicator of real intent, but emerging economies in particular lacked the necessary investment frameworks.

As a follow-up to Buildings Day at COP22 in Marrakech, November 2016, the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GABC), of which RICS is a founding member, has now launched its first Global Status Report.

There can be no denying that climate change is real. Perhaps for those of us lucky enough to live in geographies that have avoided some of its more devastating impacts it can seem abstract, but for those parts of the world least able to deal with the effects, the consequences have been disastrous.