1. The challenge

“Think about how awful the effect of 1.1°C above pre-Industrial temperatures has been [for our climate] and think that we are on course for a rise of 3.5°C. That is not a world in which any of us can live,” said Lord Deben, who was formerly environment secretary and recently stepped down as chair of the UK’s independent Climate Change Committee, in his keynote address.

In setting out the scale of the challenge facing society, Lord Deben called on the built environment sector to use its professionalism to drive change. To make a difference, it is about the sector using its “expertise in order to make this country more resilient – because it has to be – and mitigate climate change”.

Lord Deben delivered the keynote address at the 11th Carbon Crunch event

Lord Deben also told the audience at Carbon Crunch that addressing climate change is essential for businesses to remain sustainable and called for the sector not to rely on government policy.

“Apart from 16 years as a government minister, I've spent my life as a businessman and therefore recognise that the most important thing in business is to discover those few things that are certain,” he said. “So start off by deciding what is actually certain and climate change is certain. There is no question that every year, whatever we do, it'll get worse in our lifetime.”

Business continuity

“The fundamental issue of sustainability is actually to make the business continue and the things which will enable that to happen is the recognition of the world that we now live in. At the heart of that is a world in which every year will be affected by climate change.

“If you look at what's happened in Scotland where a month's rain falls in 24 hours, you realise that the infrastructure which we have created is incapable of handling this new kind of weather.

“The problem we have is that we fail to recognise the inherent connection between creating resilience now and mitigating for the future. Those two things need to come together and governments are not facing up to the realities.”

Lord Deben warned that if action is not taken soon “the realities of life will force it” to happen and “it will be more expensive, more difficult and you will have to deliver it”.

How you influence politics is important

Professional responsibility

He added that it is the private sector that must accept those realities first because “business needs to face those facts otherwise it won't be in business”.

Nonetheless, Lord Deben said that professionals in the built environment have an individual responsibility too and he called on everyone in the sector to take the case for action on climate change to their MPs. “How you influence politics is important,” he said. “MPs only listen to their constituents, so talk about the issues and how they affect where you live from your professional point of view. If you do that, you will drive a change.”