ASLA 2021 Professional General Design Honor Award. From a Concrete Bulkhead Riverbank to a Vibrant Shoreline Park—Suining South Riverfront Park. Suining City, Sichuan Province, China. ECOLAND Planning and Design Corp. Sichuan Provincial Architectural Design and Research Institute CO., LTD. / Arch-Exist PhotographyThe United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)’s 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26), which just began in Scotland and will continue over the next two weeks, is the crucial moment where global leaders must commit to achieving a 65 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the end of this decade. The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) calls upon governments, particularly of nations with the largest historical emissions, to rapidly change course or risk breaching the 1.5C (2.7F) planetary warming limit established as part of the 2015 Paris climate agreement.
A recent report issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that countries are already failing to live up to their commitments as outlined in the Paris agreement. With current nationally determined contributions (NDCs), global greenhouse gas emissions are on track to increase by 16 percent by 2030, compared to 2010 levels. And earlier this year, the International Energy Agency warned that greenhouse gas emissions in 2021 are expected to total 33 billion tonnes, an increase of 4.6 percent over 2020, and the second largest annual jump on record.
Over the course of the next two weeks, ASLA and its Climate Action Committee will be closely monitoring progress of the negotiations in Scotland. ASLA will be working in coordination with its climate action partners – The International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA), Climate Positive Design, Architecture 2030, We Are Still In, and The American Institute of Architects (AIA) -- to share information in real time.
“We will be looking for more ambitious commitments – increased investments in nature-based approaches to sequestering greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change and more equitable climate actions that undo climate injustices. We are hopeful COP26 will result in progress on our key goals as outlined through our commitments with IFLA and Architecture 2030,” said Torey Carter-Conneen, ASLA CEO.
In October, ASLA ratified the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA)’s Climate Action Commitment, joining a global coalition of 70,000 landscape architects in 77 countries in committing to limiting planetary warming to 1.5°C (2.7 °F). The IFLA Commitment brought together the largest coalition of landscape architecture professionals ever assembled to advance climate action.
ASLA also signed on to the Architecture 2030 1.5°C COP26 Communiqué, which calls for all governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 65 percent by 2030 and achieve zero emissions by 2040. The call, the most ambitious climate challenge ever issued by the built environment professions, accelerates the current timeline to achieve emission reductions outlined in the Paris Climate Accord by a decade.
“By working closely with our built environment partners, we can amplify the voice of landscape architects in these critically important climate discussions,” said Tom Mroz, FASLA, ASLA President. “We must all do our part to get on a path to achieving a 65 percent reduction in emissions by 2030.”
Landscape architects plan and design with nature to help all communities reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to a changing climate. Landscape architects use climate positive design approaches that transform parks and open spaces into natural carbon sinks. They develop resilient nature-based solutions that reduce the impacts of extreme heat; coastal, ground, and inland flooding; sea level rise; pollution; and wildfires. They also increase biodiversity and protect and restore ecosystems, which underpin life on Earth. Learn more at: https://climate.asla.org