Sustainability Action Plan

To my dear colleagues at Breathe,

This is a letter to you. It sets out what the problem is, and, as an organisation what we need to do about it, what we need to take responsibility for.

Since completing our 2022 Sustainability Action Plan we are pleased to see much needed progress in the industry towards more sustainable practices. These gains are the beginning of what needs to be a long and sustained transformation of the industry. We have recently observed a growing misconception within the industry, however, that the job is now done. As an internationally-recognised Australian sustainability rating and certification system, Green Star has come a long way. It’s also fair to say the profession is upgrading its sustainability literacy. There are also some good policies that have been signed into law. Some think that means mission accomplished. 

Sadly, reality tells a very different story. Government’s ‘sensible, practical approach’ to climate action means that our current projections show us soaring past our 2035 emissions reduction target. We are on track to cut climate pollution by only 48 per cent below 2005 levels by 2035. This is a major shortfall on what was already a compromised target reduction of between 62 and 70 per cent.

We face the double jeopardy of failing to meet our carbon targets while growing complacent that we’ve done enough. In the face of this double jeopardy, we at Breathe need to double down on sustainability. We need to do more.

This is the purpose of updating our 2022 Sustainability Action Plan. To strengthen key aspects of our four core 2022 Sustainability Action Plan goals while expanding these goals to meet the scale and urgency of the challenge ahead.

The Why

The Climate Gap

Global warming has not stopped growing. We continue to break all the wrong records. Recent years has given us a taste of what it means to reach +1.5C. Increasing heatwaves, floods, and storms are occurring within weeks of each other, and at a higher frequency than ever. As we are already at or near the Paris Agreement ceiling, and we are heading towards +2.8-3C, things are only going to get worse. Climate science data and modelling suggests that this threshold, when breached, may lead to several ‘runaway effects’ and positive feedback loops, with unfathomable consequences. This is obviously urgent news for our earth’s capacity to regulate its temperature and weather conditions. 

For Australia to do its bit, the Climate Council recommends that we target reduced emissions of 75 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 and reach net zero by 2035. That gap, between a responsible target and Australia’s current policies, means we need to exceed minimum standards. If we take climate seriously, we need to push our own ambition harder than ever.

Our Dirty Industry

The construction industry is one of the worst polluters in the world. Its emissions are up there with energy, industry and transport. Combining both embedded carbon emissions from construction, and operational emissions for building use, the industry is responsible for a total of 39% of all the world’s carbon emissions. The stark reality is that if we are part of an industry that wants to build a sustainable future, we must face up to our significant responsibility. Not a bit part. A starring role. We must do better. 

How much better? According to the Australian Reduction Roadmap, which reviewed carbon emissions related to housing, business as usual construction results in 461 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent per square metre per year. Tracking Australia’s housing needs, if we continue that rate of emissions, our future housing will equate to 200% of our national emissions budget for everything, just on those new houses. The report’s bottom line estimates that we need to reduce emissions by 98% per square metre. That wasn’t a typo. 98%.

Looking more broadly at waste in the industry, multiple research sources indicate that the construction sector involves a high volume of general waste produced through the delivery of buildings and infrastructure. Different data sets point to between 20 and 40 percent of all materials delivered to site end up in a skip. These energy and carbon-intensive practices are still embedded in the work that we do.

More with Less

70% of the world’s population will reside in cities and urban areas by 2050, bringing with it the spectre of increased consumption and levels of emissions. Melbourne is a leader in this growth trend. It is expected to be the largest city in Australia by 2070 with a projected population that could reach 10 million people. 

This leads to increasing pressure to build homes and infrastructure for our cities at rates that will accelerate, not reduce, ecological damage to our natural systems. Urban sprawl, air pollution, congestion and depleted public spaces will all just get worse, without a serious plan.

Biodiversity

One of the most important lessons we have learned from Traditional Custodians, is that sustainability is not only a human imperative. A healthy environment is also healthy for our non-human kin. Here we are failing tragically. Many native species have been driven to extinction, and many more are threatened with increased risk of extinction due to the impacts of climate change, habitat loss, a rise in invasive species and many other threats.

In Victoria alone, over 50% of native vegetation has been removed during the two centuries since European settlement. The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 currently lists nearly 2,000 species as threatened with extinction across Australia, while in Victoria, the Victorian National Parks Association estimates that over 50 species of animals and plants have already disappeared from the state forever. Urban expansion, alongside intensive resource extraction, in the form of agriculture, mining and deforestation, means that a once rich and diverse biodome is not just under threat of depletion. The damage to our environment is real, on-going and expanding.