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Sustainable development goals

Article · April 2018

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Departments/Sustainability
By Dr Lee Bint, former BRANZ Sustainable Building Scientist, and Dr Casimir MacGregor, BRANZ Senior Social Scientist
Sustainable
development goals
In the first of a series of articles, Build looks at the United Nation’s
sustainable development goals (SDGs) and their importance to the
New Zealand construction industry.
GREATER ECONOMIC and environmental uncertainty due to the
global financial crisis in 2008 and climate change mean that the
UN’s sustainable development goals have increasing relevance.
What are the SDGs?
In 2015, the UN, with support from member countries, agreed to ‘end
poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all’ through
the implementation of 17 SDGs.
New Zealand has made a commitment to meet these goals, and
we are seeing more individuals and businesses talking about and
implementing this framework. This includes such diverse organisa-
tions as the New Zealand Stock Exchange and the New Zealand
Government coalition.
The SDGs are a series of 17 goals with specific targets and indicators.
They set an ambitious challenge for all of humanity to work towards
a more sustainable world – where ‘sustainable’ means long-term
benefits for people, the economy and environment. These goals are
monitored by the UN to gauge progress and action across member
countries.
Building industry has a role to play
The building industry is unique in that it is made up of a great variety
of smaller sectors. Buildings are central to our lives. Research suggests
many urban dwellers spend around 90% of their time indoors at home
or at work. The World Green Building Council (WGBC) has recently
released its vision of how it believes green buildings can contribute
towards meeting the SDGs.
92 — April/May 2018 — Build 165
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The WGBC believes that, ‘while the 17 goals are wide ranging, from
ending hunger to promoting peaceful and inclusive societies … there
are several goals to which we believe green buildings can, and in fact
already have, been contributing to in a significant way’.
What about in New Zealand?
In a short survey, BRANZ asked New Zealand construction and
infrastructure industry leaders to tell us which five SDGs were most
important. They were, in order of priority:
●● sustainable cities and communities
●● climate action
●● industry, innovation and infrastructure
●● responsible consumption and production
●● affordable and clean energy.
What now?
Over the next year, BRANZ will be digging deeper into the top five SDGs
you told us are important to the building construction and infrastructure
industry and sharing this information in Build. We will be providing
greater insight on these SDGs to demonstrate where we need to be, our
role and how the New Zealand construction and infrastructure industry
could participate. We will also be tracking our indicators.
The goal is to help industry play its part in implementing SDGs
for the benefit of all.
For more We are interested to hear how you’re tracking the SDGs in your
organisation, company or trade. To connect or for more information, please
contact Casimir.MacGregor@branz.co.nz.