Why we cannot have it both ways

As we continue to see extreme weather events across the world, we should reflect on the environmental impact of our current economic dependency on goods from counties such as China. produced using fossil fuels and transported across the world in highly polluting ships. This includes structural timber which is all sourced from outside the UK.

Unchecked this situation will only get worse with the car industry swiftly following PV Panels and other renewables, which are already dominated by imports from the far east. This is at the direct expense of British industry, as we chase a perverse version of sustainability which is incompatible with saving our planet and seeks to ignore the facts.

The failure of environmental campaigners and industry to take a holistic view of sustainability and resilience will result in a less resilient economy and an abject failure to address the worldwide requirement to meet our climate change objective, We cannot simply outsource the problem to other nations, we are of course one world!

We must also accept that any interventions we make at a functional and product level must be balanced by respect and investment in our natural habitat. In 2022 at the UN Biodiversity Conference, the UK formally made a commitment to protect and conserve a minimum of 30% of land and sea for biodiversity by 2030, known as 30×30. The British Government has recently signalled the need for 10% of all farmland to be dedicated to growing trees and protecting our natural habitats.

This target will be a key driver in reversing the decline of nature in the UK, by expanding and improving our protected areas and creating new areas for wildlife, allowing nature to spill over into the wider landscape.

As we respond to the Governments challenge to construct 1.5 million homes, we need to fully embrace biodiversity, ensuring we create better places, protect wildlife, create natural shade to mitigate the inevitable increase in overheating and maximise the opportunity for natural carbon sync. These principles are widely understood and excepted and there is a noticeable shift towards responding to this challenge.

Given this fact, it seems in-comprehensible that the UK Government and responsible housing developers, are advocating mass deforestation in other countries to provide the timber to build new homes in the UK. Time will prove this method of construction to be less resilient to the significant increase in floods, winds, storms wildfires and overheating than the more cost-effective UK made Brick and Block Construction.

The mass-clearing of trees will be the doom of many forms of life on this planet. Forests are critical to the Earth’s ecology. They capture and store carbon out of the atmosphere. They can alter the air quality and quantity of drinking water, and they provide the most habitat for the world’s terrestrial species. Alarming rates of deforestation are continuing all over the globe, despite warnings from scientists and urgent calls from environmental activists to cease the clearing as much as possible.

The planet is losing an estimated 137 species of plants, animals and insects every day due to deforestation, according to the World Animal Foundation. Deforestation is a global environmental issue that threatens biodiversity, disrupts climate balances, and undermines vital natural resources essential for human survival.

Despite growing awareness of the importance of preserving our forests, deforestation remains a pressing challenge, driven by various economic, social, and political factors with little regard to the long-term consequences.

Deforestation refers to the extensive felling of trees at a rate faster than their ability to regenerate. This practice leads to the loss of fertile soil and contributes to progressive desertification. It is distinct from logging, which is the cutting of trees that does not necessarily exceed their regrowth capacity.

The repercussions of deforestation are numerous, including the transformation of ecosystems and the reduction of biodiversity. This compromises the ability of habitats to adapt to climate changes and diseases, intensifies the frequency and severity of fires, and accelerates the desertification process.

Moreover, deforestation significantly increases carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, playing a crucial role in global warming. Even with manged forests It takes up to 100 years to grow new trees to maturity and this ignores vast levels of illegal logging industry worth an estimated $51–$152 billion annually, the illegal timber industry simultaneously threatens the world’s forests and steals from local communities that rely on forests for food, health, and wealth.

A nearly two-decade effort by Californians to cut their emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide may have been erased by a single, devastating year of wildfires, according to UCLA and University of Chicago researchers.

The state’s record-breaking 2020 fire season, which saw more than 4 million acres burn, spewed almost twice the tonnage of greenhouse gases as the total amount of carbon dioxide reductions made since 2003, according to a study published in the journal Environmental Pollution.

Researchers estimated that about 127 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent were released by the fires, compared with about 65 million metric tons of reductions achieved in the previous 18 years. The carbon impact of the recent tragic fires in California has yet to be fully quantified, but the warning is clear, not just environmentally but also socially and financially. It is likely that Insurance companies will refuse to cover Californian homes that are reconstructed in timber.

It is surely unacceptable that the UK Government should encourage the mass destruction of natural habitats and carbon sync opportunities across the world in the name of sustainable construction.

Those defending this practice suggest that timber frame homes with a design life of 60 years are more sustainable than masonry homes built to last 150 years. The ability to meet new standards may also be questioned but research carried out by Birmingham City University, Centre for Future Homes, confirms that masonry construction can meet the proposed Future Homes Standard with one development demonstrating a 91% reduction in operational carbon emissions.

Skill shortages are often sighted as a reason to sponsor timber frame construction. There is no denying that attracting new skilled workers is a challenge for the whole construction ecosystem including the construction of timber frame homes. Instead of treating this as a threat, this should be seen as an opportunity to encourage young people into a rewarding career in the wider construction sector. The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show 28% of 16- to 64-year-olds in Birmingham were considered economically inactive in 2023.

As we look to creating a sustainable resilient future, we cannot have it both ways. We need to invest in the decarbonisation of UK manufacturing and the skills we need to deliver a green economy, significantly reducing our dependency on imports.  We must focus on creating better bio-diverse places, connected to local services for people to live and work, that will be fit for purpose and adaptable to meet the needs of future generations.

This is a personal blog post.  Any opinions, findings, and conclusion or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Centre for the New Midlands or any of our associated organisations/individuals.

ABOUT OUR AUTHOR:

Mike Leonard is CEO of Building Alliance CIC and also a Visiting Professor at Birmingham City University.

Mike is currently driving many initiatives to achieve our climate change objectives, whilst ensuring resilience in the built environment. A strong believer in the power of collaboration he has built an extensive industry and academic network, identifying, and acting on common goals.

He is the founder of the Futures Group, the UK cross-industry, and highly influential new homes “think tank”. Mike is currently involved in research aimed at improving the quality in building. This includes Future Homes Standard Demonstrators, preventing overheating, enhancing indoor air quality, addressing the fire risk, reducing the use of single life plastics, decarbonising the built environment, and embracing the skills gap.