Building for a 21st century climate: Fostering resilience through better regulation

Climate change, population growth and urbanisation are intensifying pressure on the built environment. Buildings are both a significant source of global greenhouse gas emissions and are increasingly exposed to the effects of climate change, including heatwaves, flooding and wildfires. Failure to adapt new and existing buildings to the impacts of climate change will have significant economic and social costs.

This report examines building regulations as a crucial tool for adapting the built environment to climate change-related risks. Drawing on analysis of regulatory and litigation trends around the world, the authors make key recommendations to strengthen building regulations to mitigate the impacts of climate change and reduce emissions.

Key points for decision-makers:

• Adaptation and mitigation should be addressed as complementary objectives in building regulation: this can lead to co-benefits, ensure that climate resilience is not relegated to a secondary concern and reduce the cost of future interventions.
• Modernise building regulations for a changing climate: regulations should move from reliance on historical climate data towards the systematic use of forward-looking climate information. Industry standard methodologies that are incorporated into regulation must also be revised to reflect new realities in relation to the climate.
• Increase retrofitting and upgrading of existing building stock: most climate-related impacts in the coming decades will be felt by buildings that already exist, yet regulation, standards and incentives focus disproportionately on new development. Systematic retrofitting and upgrading of existing building stock is needed to prevent avoidable harm.
• Reduce regulatory uncertainty and translate adaptation ambitions into clear duties: plans, policies and tools to address climate-related risks exist, but there is an absence of mandates and mechanisms that clarify when and how such instruments must guide decision-making. Greater regulatory clarity would reduce uncertainty for key stakeholders involved in the building project life cycle.

DOI: 10.21953/researchonline.lse.ac.uk.00141849