United nations: HIGH-LEVEL POLITICAL FORUM ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Speech during the Saudi Green Building Forum`s (SGBF) virtual side event part of the HLPF 2021 6-15 July 2021.

Honest Voice, Bridging The Gap: Climate, Sustainability & Resource Efficiency; Ensuring Heath, Safety & The Environment; Sustainable and Resilient Recovery from the COVID-19

AIA Japan President, Segene Park, AIA was featured as one of the key speakers.

The Saudi Green Building Forum (SGBF) hosted the virtual side event part of the HLPF 2021 6-15 July 2021 an open discussion and present engagement of all stakeholders “leaving no one behind” to bridge the gap between public and private sectors role in archiving SDGs through the lenses of the goal 12 the consumption and production “ The driving force of the global economy that rest on the use of the natural environment and resources in a way that continues to have destructive impacts on the planet.”

Government representatives, expert speakers, youth and local NGOs will testify with the best way to go forward on the expression “The Honest Voice: Bridge the Gap Between Empowerment & Sustainability Ensuring Health, Safety & the Environment post-COVID.” Delegates will replicable and collaborative solutions to cover: Longer-term priorities for the future we want, by recognizing

The High-level Political Forum, United Nations central platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, provides for the full and effective participation of all States Members of the United Nations and States members of specialized agencies.

COVID-19 has impacted nearly all areas of human life, natural resources and the implantation of sustainable development goals. “The Honest Voice” requires strengthening the science-policy interface, building civil community resilience through empowering independent education, health and safety/ just systems supported by multi-sectoral and cross-disciplinary action.

Segene Park`s Full Statement: Climate Sustainability & Resource Efficiency

How can we heal this earth before it becomes too late? It is obvious that now is the time to take civic actions to counteract the temperature rise and better manage the natural resources, so that our families can stay healthy and our future generations can be secured. Today, I would like to express my insight as an architect and urban planner.

As you may know, the buildings currently account for roughly 40% of greenhouse gas emissions. About 11% out of its total building gas emission comes just from “embodied carbon,” or the emissions from the building materials and construction process. Use of renewable energy resource should be urged for the construction process as well as daily heating, cooling and lighting systems. Innovation of new technology to create environmentally low-impact materials should be also encouraged. More importantly, those actions must be supported as public policies.

Green buildings, natural ventilation, open spaces, greenways, walkability, zero-emission transportation options, and low-waste communities have been adopted as sustainable solutions for reducing carbon dioxide and improving energy efficiency. However, through my practices I see that all these solutions are not enough to check the climate change and achieve the truly sustainable environment. To me, holding a balance between appropriate sustainable design, economic feasibility, and civic support is critical for sustainability. If those three dimensions are fallen apart, then sustainability would not last long, or would end just as a passing trend.

For instance, to counterbalance the urban heat, vegetation and greenway are popular choices because of the prettiness and soothing effect of nature. But if too many trees and bushes are intensively planted, such densely vegetated area will attract people but also a considerable number of undesirable insects like mosquitos. Majority of the urban habitants would not welcome such symbiosis with these insects. In tropical and subtropical regions, Malaria disease is a serious issue as already known. Can pesticide be sprayed in the worst-case scenario? I would like to say “no”. Otherwise, the intention of having vegetation and greenways seems to become almost meaningless; the whole purpose of providing vegetation is to retrieve healthy environment. When a small but new ecosystem such as greenway and open space is introduced, we need consider its impacts to the existing ecosystem holistically for a long term. Appropriateness of sustainable solution and social preference are not necessarily consistent.

Sustainability is tangible as long as it is economically viable. There is a misconception that sustainable design is costly, however, it is eventually economical in a long run. Use of indigenous materials costs less and consumes less gas for transportation, and that those materials are more durable. Installation of solar panels adds costs initially but saves the operational cost. Those design decisions are comparatively small to make as the first step to switch from fuel-relied life to sustainable life. Sustainable design can be therefore adapted to any types of projects, regardless of size and budget. In fact, there is still room to make sustainable design more affordable. Supportive policies such as incentives for sustainable property development will allow sustainable design accessible to developers and homeowners, or anyone and will consequently help create high demand for environmentally low-impact materials and high-performance systems using less gas and water. In the construction industry there will be more competitions for the technology development, potential of new technologies, and more job opportunities; all of those will boost economy in the end.

Sustainability is difficult to survive without civic support. The issues of climate change and depletion of natural resources involve every single person, so sustainability is relevant to all of us. Each day architects and urban planners do their best to help clients better understand not only the cost effectiveness of sustainable design but also the imperative to utilize renewable resources for every building and urban planning in order to regain the healthy environment for our and future generations’ health and well-being. Perhaps civic support is the most important among the three because it can also be a great momentum to promote sustainability.

In conclusion, appropriate sustainable design, economic feasibility, and civic support are essential to let sustainability last. Especially civic support is indispensable for promoting sustainability. When an individual begins to take the first action to support for sustainability, it could be still very small, however, even such a small action as a flap of butterfly’s wings may set off a gust of wind that sways public opinion. Hopefully converged winds can finally blow the heat off, taking us to the truly sustainable world.

Segene Park, AIA

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