So, we’ve declared a climate and biodiversity emergency. Where to from here?

Introduction: what to do in an emergency

The main pressures facing the Australian environment today are the same as they have been for years: climate change, land-use change, habitat fragmentation and degradation, and invasive species.¹ In 2016, almost silently, the Bramble Cay melomys ( Melomys rubicola) was the first mammal in global history to become extinct because of sea-level rises caused by human-made climate change – and it happened right here in Australia.

In 2018, the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) called on public and private sectors “to reach net zero operating emissions … by 2030, and to advocate for all buildings to be net zero carbon in operation by 2050.”² In 2019, hundreds of Australian architects followed the lead of UK-based architecture firms by forming Architects Declare and declaring a “climate and biodiversity emergency,” acknowledging that buildings and construction play a major part in breaching the earth’s ecological boundaries.³

Isn’t this something for future architects to worry about? The answer is a resounding no,