RICS releases its UN communication on engagement report

This report reinforces RICS’ commitment to lead and influence on sustainability.  Undoubtedly, there is still much to do.

With a global spotlight on building emissions, perhaps the most vital aspect of this ambition is to continue to develop and strengthen guidance and standards for measuring and reporting on carbon. Advocating for global adoption of these standards so that climate targets can be met is equally important.

Preservation and restoration of nature and biodiversity also cannot be overlooked. Standards, guidance and thought leadership around sustainable land use and development of land performance metrics are critical subject matters that must be addressed by professional bodies such as RICS.

Development of industry standards and products must be met with appropriate education and training programmes to allow professionals to integrate sustainability principles and climate literacy with existing technical and professional practices.  It will be impossible to implement this without further collaboration, partnerships and data sharing. RICS’ report details some important examples of this.

RICS’ work with the Building Breakthrough initiative could prove to be important step towards supporting decarbonisation of the building sector and embedding resilience and adaptation measures into buildings. Advancing circular economy practices across the profession, developing tools for biodiversity assessments and creating metrics to measure infrastructure resilience to climate shocks are just some of the projects that RICS could explore moving forwards.