10 December
The Planning Institute of Australia accepts the scientific assessments that human activity is changing our global climate and ecosystems and that the planning profession must urgently address the reality of a changing and degrading climate.
Planning for climate change is the domain of all planners, including those working in energy, land-use, transport, infrastructure, environmental planning, policy and strategy, urban design, and social planning.
This includes the mitigation of future climate change (by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and minimising waste) – as well as adapting to environmental changes and disaster risk reduction measures.
This is why PIA's Board has endorsed a national position statement Planning in a Changing Climate and more recently adopted a target that “By 2050, new buildings, infrastructure and renovations will have net zero embodied carbon, and all buildings, including existing buildings, must be net zero operational carbon.”
This commitment has been made jointly by PIA and every member of the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council (ASBEC) which has adopted the World Green Building Council report:
It is a contribution towards our national endorsement of the Paris Agreement as well as supporting state and territories towards zero net carbon outcomes.
PIA does not take this commitment lightly. We will be working up the means to build capacity in the planning industry to achieve this target. We will be engaging on planning and assessment pathways to reduce the contribution of buildings and precincts to produce (or offset) carbon pollution over their life cycles through their construction, operation and disposal / reuse.
We anticipate new planning skills and tools emerging across the profession.
We understand that planning for climate change occurs across a broad front that includes: emissions, land and vegetation management, embodied energy, waste and renewables, demand management, energy efficiency, and economic appraisal.
PIA believes planners are uniquely placed to bring together built environment and land management professionals and the community to be able to deal with the complexities of planning for climate change to create integrated and collaborative solutions.
PIA respects that mitigating greenhouse gases works in concert with adaptation to climatic changes that are already locked in.
We are committed to building in resilience for communities, ensuring buildings and infrastructure is adaptable to heat and other climate changes, and ensuring settlements are located in the right areas and not those most prone to bushfire and flood.
PIA will soon be releasing a communique on bushfire planning.
PIA looks to ensure that good planning principles that create great places to live and work can also improve our capacity to mitigate and adapt to a changing climate.
ENDS