Climate Change: What Will It Change?
“Climate Change: what will it change? How will the property sector tackle the challenges of climate change?” is the latest quarterly forum hosted by Foot Anstey in association with the Western Morning News on 13 May 2009 at Truro School
Dr Stephan Harrison, Associate Professor in Quaternary Science, School of Geography, Archaeology and Earth Resources from the University of Exeter, Mark Kemp, Cornwall Branch Chair of the Royal Institute of British Architects and Mark Wray, Professional Services Manager - Sustainable Construction of the South West Regional Development Agency will speak and take questions from the floor.
With property accounting for a huge percentage of carbon emissions, the panel will explore the impact of climate change on the built environment The event will open with a scientific overview of climate change and some of the impacts on the planet to date and to come. The panel will cover issues such as the design process, materials, impact on the market, insurance and sustainable building and finally there will be a question and answer session.
Gavin Poole, property specialist at Foot Anstey says “Make no mistake. Climate change is happening. The rate of change could vary so who knows what the world will look and feel like in, say, 25 years?
“With the impacts of climate change reported in the press on a daily basis, newspapers and journals are reflecting the increasing mood swing towards greener issues.
“The “green” agenda is now a major part of government, corporate and even personal agendas. The government and related organisations are pouring resources into understanding and mitigating the possible impacts. Businesses are devoting significant amounts of time and effort towards corporate environmental responsibility. On a personal level, there are many who are changing the way they go about their daily lives to adapt to the changes that we perceive lie ahead of us.
Is this a topical mood swing that will pass in time? No. Unlike the current period of economic downturn which is causing all of us to question the use of our resources, “green” issues will be here to stay. And if we don’t embrace the changes and engage with the issues, we shall be storing up really big problems for future generations.
Unfortunately none of us has a crystal ball and we cannot for sure say what the impacts of climate change will be. We find ourselves dealing with moving targets both as our own understanding of the science behind the likely changes improves and as we develop new materials and methods to tackle some of those changes. In some cases steps are already being taken to mitigate some of the predicted outcomes. Some of those steps may already be out of date. It’s a difficult journey!
In this period of ongoing formal and informal consultation and debate, the quarterly forum hosted by Foot Anstey solicitors in association with the Western Morning News entitled “Climate Change: what will it change? How is the property sector going to tackle the challenges of climate change?” will take place on 13 May 2009 at 4.30pm at Truro School. For further information, please contact Penny Eyre on 01752 675010 or book at www.footanstey.com/events
Published 20/04/2009
