The last month has provided many causes for optimism, mixed with some sober climate reality. The sustainability profession has grown so much in the last decade and our work is now deeply embedded in many infrastructure projects, delivery agencies, contractors, service providers, standards, rating mechanisms and conferences galore!
This occurred to me last Thursday night at the Infrastructure Sustainability Council gala awards dinner. I remember being part of a working group to develop one of the first tools for the then newly formed Green Infrastructure Council in 2007 before it became the ISC. To see a warehouse-sized function room full of industry professionals sharing and celebrating the success of so many sustainability initiatives (including the use of low emission materials!!) is cause for optimism. The holistic thinking that sustainability drives is clearly delivering value for government, communities and investors.
Another source of optimism came from the Circular Australia Forum, held on 10 October where the momentum of the emerging circular economy was clearly evident. New businesses, existing businesses changing their operations, government procurement and plenty of research are behind this exciting level of growth.
Australia hosted the first Global Nature Positive Summit last month and it was clear to see that there is much activity taking place across the private sector, civil society and governments towards protecting and restoring nature. Of course much more needs to be done and one of the clear messages from the Summit was the importance of seeing climate and nature as two parts of the same coin – “climate and nature together forever”. With a First Nations leadership focus as well, there were some truly inspiring moments and great case studies.
AdaptNSW has just held its annual conference at UNSW to a capacity audience of 500 professionals all working on climate change risk and adaptation from across all tiers of government, research and business. Although this is NSW-specific and MECLA takes a national perspective, this noteworthy event saw adaptation professionals sharing knowledge, science and tools (such as the recent launch of NARCLIM 2.0 ). The changes already locked into our climate means that the need for such considered adaptation is only going to grow.
Transport for NSW launched the consultation period of its Engineering Cost and Carbon Library last week with MECLA referenced as a key stakeholder in its development. I encourage all our members to participate in this engagement process - in particular to consider how other jurisdictions can leverage this work so that this level of available data can be accessed around the country to ensure consistency in all jurisdictions.
That week also saw the release of the CSIRO’s biennial State of the Climate report, telling us that Australia’s climate has now warmed by an average of 1.51 ± 0.23 °C since national records began in 1910, and that globally, concentrations of all major long‑lived greenhouse gases in the atmosphere continue to increase. And no wonder, following the Federal Environment Minister’s decision to approve the expansion of three massive thermal coal mines in the NSW Hunter Valley which are estimated to contribute over 1 billion tonnes of CO2-e to the atmosphere by mid-century. We need to make every decision count in the global race towards creating a climate safe future and these decisions to expand fossil fuel use fly in the face of the climate science and are clearly disappointing.
So, MECLA’s work must continue with stubborn optimism to support the steady and consistent reduction of embodied emissions across the construction and infrastructure sectors aligned to the Paris Agreement targets and principles of the circular economy. It is vital that we move to policy alignment across all jurisdictions so all governments at federal, state and local levels support the transition to zero carbon of key industry sections whilst also halting the expansion of new fossil fuel extraction that is the proven driver of climate change that we are all working so hard to address.
Hudson Worsley,
MECLA Chair
WG1 SG Readiness Index &
Infrastructure NSW Capability Survey Results
Working Group 1 Subgroup Readiness Index has been collaborating with Infrastructure NSW this year, looking at evidence for industry's readiness to use low and/or no embodied carbon material. The aim of this work is to support confidence for pledges to low carbon procurement and tendering, and other demand policies.
Results of Infrastructure NSW's first Capability Survey have been released this week. The survey focussed on assessing readiness to comply with the NSW's Decarbonising Infrastructure Delivery Policy with the infrastructure and construction industry, as well as with NSW Government agencies. Close to 400 industry and government infrastructure professionals responded to the survey.
MECLA WG 3/4 has refined its strategy to focus on the collection of embodied carbon case studies around Australia with the aim of extending its current catalogue of case studies on the MECLA website. Case studies could focus on new design methodologies, materials, building techniques or technological solutions that resulted in carbon savings.
WG3/4 will be engaging industry to identify and collect these good news embodied carbon stories, and share them via MECLA to build knowledge and confidence about low carbon delivery. If you are interested in being part of this journey, or have a case study of your own you'd like to share, please get in contact!
Friday, 15 November, 12.30pm at Treasury Gardens, Melbourne
After a fantastic in-person meeting in Melbourne a few weeks ago, the idea was hatched to organise an informal MECLA lunchtime get-together in a Melbourne park this month.
If you are available on Friday, 15 November 2024 at 12.30pm and keen to meet up with other MECLA members and Embodied Carbon enthusiasts, grab some lunch and come along to Treasury Gardens.
If you are interested to participate, you can email us and we will forward you a calendar invite with all the details. There is also a list in the MECLA All Teams folder to leave your name and details if you wanted to receive future invites for these Melbourne get-togethers.
Friday, 6 December, 2:30-3:30pm - WG1 SG Local Councils
If you are part of any of these working groups but haven't got an invite in your calendar yet, or you are keen to participate in any of these working groups, please reach out to us here.
MECLA Information and Onboarding meetings
If you are interested in joining MECLA or just hearing more about what we do, you can join one of our weekly information and onboarding meetings to find out. These sessions are the perfect opportunity to hear more about all the alliance is doing across its working groups and network and to ask any open questions you might have after visiting one of our events.
Engineering, Cost and Carbon Library (ECCL) Consultation Process
- open until 29 November 2024 -
Transport for NSW recently launched the consultation process on their Engineering, Cost and Carbon Library (ECCL). You can rewatch the webinar that accompanied the launch to find out more about the ECCL, which is an Australian-first library of over 4,000 construction resources that defines baseline carbon. It sets a clear benchmarking structure for cost and carbon aligned to international standards.
Feedback closes 5pm Friday 29 November 2024. You can access the data room here to submit your feedback and review supporting materials to inform your response.
The primary theme of DBI2024 revolves around decarbonising the building industry. The conference will delve into the challenges and opportunities in reducing embodied emissions – the carbon footprint of materials and construction processes. It will also address strategies for decreasing operational emissions from existing and new buildings. Through a blend of scientific insights and practical case studies, the conference will highlight innovative approaches and technologies essential for transforming the energy performance of residential and commercial buildings, both in Australia and globally.
MECLA will be hosting a special session on 18 November delving deeper into industry conversations around design, availabilities of materials, data and EPDs, and the continuing development of supporting policies and rating schemes, such as through ASBEC and NABERS.
You can find all our MECLA Resources on our MECLA Resources Page or by clicking on the style of resource you are looking for directly below.
If your organisation has a case study please consider sharing it with us. You can submit a case study on the MECLA Website. Each submitted case study will be screened by the MECLA Project Control Group (PCG) before being featured on this website.
You can find out more about MECLA by going to our website, by signing up to our newsletter or following us on LinkedIn to stay updated on future events and developments.
As always, email us with any questions and enquiries at info@mecla.org.au.
MECLA is funded through a mixture of industry and government commitments. We would like to thank all industry organisations, plus the NSW and SA Government that have already made a contribution to support MECLA going national.
MECLA c/o Climate-KIC Australia, University of Technology Sydney, Building 10, Level 10, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
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