Circularity can help cities protect wildlife
Gland/Zug/London - To protect biodiversity in the countryside, cities should adopt circular economic construction methods that have less impact on the environment, according to a new IUCN report written with Holcim and ARUP. Zurich, for example, used circular methods to eliminate the need for 17,000 cubic meters of raw concrete.
(CONNECT) Construction, which consumes 40 percent of the world’s raw materials, and mining and quarrying adversely affect a third of the world’s species that are now at risk for extinction. Most cities are located far away from these species. But city leaders and residents can adopt circular economic approaches to save those threatened flora and fauna, explain the Switzerland-based International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, experts at the Swiss construction firm Holcim, and ARUP, a British design and engineering firm, in an April 14 statement.
In the report entitled “Circular construction policies for nature: Regenerative approaches for the built environment through city action,” the conservation experts claimed that curbing demand for materials is the best way to reduce the impact of extracting and building with them. "Circular economy discourses should go beyond decarbonization and focus also on nature and biodiversity conservation throughout the supply chain," said Loredana Scuto Cities, Culture and Youth Team Senior Program Officer at IUCN.
The report found that demolition moratoriums, extending building lifespans, mandating recycled materials in new construction, and other policies can significantly reduce the need for raw materials. In 2005, for example, Zurich began compelling builders to use a minimum amount of recycled concrete in public building projects. By 2019, that policy had decreased the use of new materials by 17,000 cubic meters.
"As the world’s population grows and urbanizes, the future of construction is circular,” said Renata Pollini, who serves as head of sustainable construction and nature at Holcim. ce/jd
