World News - In 10 years

Figure 1.1 Global warming forest fire (Eldeson J, 2021)

I watched a TED talk listed as part of our guided research this week and made notes on the key points made by johan Rockström.​

We are at a climate crisis point shown through wildfires in Australia, floods in China and India and heatwaves in the northern hemisphere (Rockstrom, 2020).​

Ten years ago, scientists thought there was at least 100 years before climate change would impact the earth. Now there is more research to suggest that we are only a few decades away from an artic with no sea ice in summer, Siberias permafrost melting at dramatic scales and the forests of the north burning with smoke clouds the size of Europe. This century, sea levels may rise upto 2 metres because of climate change, endangering the homes of over 200 million people (Rockstrom, 2020).​

We have until 2030 to make drastic changes to prevent or slow the irreversible damage to our world in order to preserve it for future generations. These are some targets that the world needs to work on to save our planet:​

1.We need to cut global emissions by half by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050 or sooner.​

2.Agriculture needs to be transformed from a source of emissions to a store of cardon​

3.We must protect the oceans and land- the natural ecosystems that absorb half of carbon emissions (Rockstrom, 2020).​

So? What is happening right now to try and make these changes…?

Figure 1.2 Prince William and David Attenborough meet (National History Museum, 2020)

Today, Sunday 17th October is the date of the first ever Earthshot prize awards in London, UK. The awards were set up by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to tackle some of the biggest environmental challenges facing the Earth right now. This is the most prestigious environmental prize to date, and it aims to incentivise change over the next vital ten years (Earthshot prize, 2021).​

“The Prize aims to turn the current pessimism surrounding environmental issues into optimism, by highlighting the ability of human ingenuity to bring about change, and inspiring collective action.” (Earthshot prize, 2021).​

There are five ‘Earthshots’ which are goals to strive for to create necessary changes by 2030 and they are underpinned by a UN sustainable Development Goal:​

Restore Nature, Clean our Air, Revive our Oceans, Build a Waste-Free World and Fix our Climate. (Earthshot prize, 2021).​

There are three finalists for each Earthshot, making 15 altogether, and each winner will receive £1 million to continue their developments and research. An example of a “Clean our Air” finalist is “the Blue Map App” which is an app created by Ma Jun, which is China’s first public environmental database allowing people to view the air and water quality in their areas and who are the major contributors. This has motivated some of the 40,000 factories with data to improve their emissions (Earthshot prize, 2021).

Figure 1.3 The Blue map app (Earthshot prize, 2021)

Which Earthshot do we want to work towards?​

We as an Architecture practice will focus on the Earthshot “Build a waste free world” as this coincides with our ethos of using circular economy to create no waste architecture. All of the finalists for this Earthshot prize in 2021 have worked towards creating less plastic waste in the food and water industry. This is a different type of waste to Architectural/ Material however we are fighting towards the same goal. We aim to work towards a zero-waste world by reusing buildings and materials as well as creating Architecture that can be repurposed or reused to minimise waste. We will look at different materials and technologies that allow the effective recycling of materials to ensure our buildings are not compromised by having and infinite lifecycle.

Bibliography​

Earthshot prize, 2021. About us [Online]. Earthshot prize. Available at: https://earthshotprize.org/about-us/ [Accessed 17th October 2021]​

Video References​

Rockström, J., 10 years to transform the future of humanity -- or destabilize the planet. [Video] 2020. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Sl28fkrozE&t=317s [Accessed 17th October 2021]​

Image References​

1.1 Eldeson J, 2021.Global warming forest fire. [Digital Image] Bloomberg Green. Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-05/third-hottest-july-ever-shows-how-even-modest-global-warming-looks [Accessed 17th October]

1.2 National History Museum, 2020., Prince William and David Attenborough meet. [Digital Image] NHM. Available at: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2020/october/the-earthshot-prize-launches-repair-our-planet.html [[Accessed 17th October 2021]​

1.3 Earthshot Prize, 2021., The Blue map app. [Digital Image] Available at: https://earthshotprize.org/london-2021/finalists/air/#the-blue-map-app [Accessed 17th October 2021]