Having led our ecology team in Birmingham, Vikki Smith has been involved with various major projects working with ArchTam’s key strategic clients, including High Speed Two (HS2). Last year, Vikki supported COP26 with Network Rail’s Green Train events to showcase their sustainability strategy and social value framework whilst also highlighting how zero carbon trains are fundamental to the future of our railways. Most recently, Vikki has become involved with the Natural Capital Laboratory, a five-year project in Scotland to restore 100 acres of forest and re-introduce lost species.

What inspired you to join the industry?

I started out in a career in law, specialising in commercial dispute resolution. However, after 15 years I was ready for change, but still craved a dynamic role with an opportunity to make a difference. A friend of mine is an ecologist and asked if I was interested in coming to work on HS2, the largest infrastructure project in Europe and the most important economic and social regeneration project in decades – I jumped at the chance! I joined ArchTam as a project coordinator in our ecology team and have worked my way up from there. I am continually inspired by the opportunity to collaborate, innovate and deliver benefits to the environment and communities on all our projects.

ArchTam is a great fit for anyone who relishes a challenge and is looking to work on landmark projects. There’s freedom at ArchTam to explore opportunities and identify projects you want to be involved in. I’m grateful that I am empowered to collaborate with others across the business to innovate and proactively pursue and develop new opportunities as well.

What is your favourite ArchTam project that you’ve worked on and why?

I have been privileged to work on several amazing projects and have enjoyed each and every one for various reasons, but especially after attending COP26 last year, the challenges around climate change and biodiversity are more apparent than ever. As well as my ongoing involvement and interest in decarbonisation and achieving net zero on rail projects, I am also privileged to work on our Natural Capital Laboratory project in partnership with the Lifescape Project.

The Natural Capital Laboratory is a live outdoor experiment, monitoring both environmental and social change to better appreciate the environment as an asset and the benefits it can provide. Located in the Scottish Highlands, the five-year project aims to restore 100 acres of forest and reintroduce native species. As part of this, we are collecting data, trialling innovative approaches and technologies, such as remote sensing and AI, to measure the changes and quantify the associated value.

Tell us a story of how your work positively impacted the community.

My involvement at COP26 was a unique and high-profile opportunity to showcase rail’s sustainability credentials to the world and the role it can play in meeting zero carbon goals. One particular highlight was to be onboard the first emission-free train to cross the iconic Forth Bridge.

During the events, I also got to engage with a variety of stakeholders, international guests, members of public including many children, to see their reactions to the very real prospect of emission-free travel for the future. To know that solutions for net zero ambitions are achievable now and to be part of implementing them for communities is so inspiring and rewarding.

Working with the Natural Capital Laboratory is another incredible opportunity to work with the landowners, academics and other parties in developing new technologies to enable a clearer understanding of the social, environmental and economic benefits provided by the natural environment, and the value they generate to both business and society. We have showcased the site using VR footage and as a way to inspire the next generation.

The project has received global attention and offers a number of exciting opportunities including the ambition for a global network of connected sites around the world with the aim of developing new solutions to the climate and biodiversity crises, starting with the Natural Capital Laboratory in Australia.

To be involved in these sorts of projects and opportunities where the impact could be felt globally and across so many communities is truly beyond anything I could have ever imagined.

Share a piece of career advice

Be interested and curious, speak to people, ask questions, build relationships across the business, with clients and with other parties. Even after five years here at ArchTam, I continue to be amazed and inspired by the people I work with and the projects we are involved in. I always say to people, look up – it’s important to horizon scan and be aware of the bigger picture. As a global company, one of the many reasons to work at ArchTam is the wealth of opportunity locally and almost anywhere in the world – explore, be open to opportunities and see where they take you!

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We welcome governments’ efforts to strengthen carbon-cutting targets and fund initiatives to mitigate against climate change and strengthen resilience, which were announced this week at COP26. Behind the headlines, we were also working hard to play our part in the battle to stave off the worst impact of the climate crisis. 

“Everyone who has come here to Glasgow is committed to climate action and making a difference and that has been really inspiring for me to see,” said Robert Spencer, our business line director for Environmental, Social and Governance. “That’s what I’m taking away from COP is this ‘can-do’ attitude. People sitting down and taking coffee together to work out solutions to this problem we all face.”

Robert was speaking during a lively, insightful panel discussion on the challenges we face tackling climate change, which was held on Wednesday at our Glasgow Offices and hosted in partnership with the Climate Crisis Advisory Group (CCAG). For many of the ArchTam delegation, it was the highlight of the week.

Sir David King, a member of CCAG, founder and chair of the Centre for Climate Repair at Cambridge University, and formerly the UK’s Special Envoy on Climate Change, urged nations to triple their emissions-cutting pledges – but warned that won’t be enough. “Even if we get to net zero tomorrow, we have already got the Arctic melting irreversibly,” he said, in response to questioning by James Banks, our head of Marketing and Communications for Europe and India. “What’s happening in the Arctic circle region is affecting every region on the planet.”

Scientists have identified a number of tipping points, which once past could lead to abrupt or irreversible changes to the earth’s systems. To prevent the melting of the Artic leading to other tipping points, Sir David called for investment in greenhouse gas removal techniques and research into methods and techniques that can repair parts of our damaged climate system.

Dr Fatima Denton, director of the United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa and also a member of CCAG, spoke of the “power symmetry” she witnessed between those who have amassed great wealth while polluting the planet, and those most vulnerable to the impacts. However, she said it would be wrong to pit the developed world against the developing world, noting that “there are many areas where countries can come together.”

To get the appropriate solutions, Robert spoke of the need to involve those affected by the decisions. This was the approach of the COP26 Futures We Want project, commissioned in 2021 by the UK in their role as COP26 President and delivered by a consortium led by Deloitte, which included ArchTam, the University of Cambridge, One Young World and Radley Yeldar.

The project developed six visions of what a net zero, climate resilient future looks like, developed in consultation with people from Brazil, India, Jamaica, Kenya, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. Although impacts and solutions vary significantly across the globe, we have much to learn from each other: for example, Robert highlighted the very effective nature-based solutions for coastal resilience developed in Kenya. In response to a question about what more built environment professionals can and should do to reduce emissions, Robert said ArchTam has developed a process to reduce carbon through design across the life cycle of built environment assets, called ScopeX.

Speaking on behalf of the 2050 Climate Group, for whom she is vice-chair of the board of trustees, our Senior Sustainability Consultant Laura Brankin said: “It was a privilege to be able to attend COP26 to elevate the voices of young people. The opportunity to meet so many inspiring people from across the world and learn what they are doing tackle the climate crisis was great. However, a constant message I kept hearing was the disappointment of the exclusivity of the summit and the lack of diversity and representation, particularly from the global south due to the countless challenges faced in attending. It will be interesting to see the outcomes from the rest of this week’s negotiations and I’m hopeful that these will demonstrate some meaningful action and progress being made.”

Here are some other highlights from the rest of the week:

Monday at COP was dedicated to the theme of adaptation, loss and damage. It was also our busiest day, with four events:

Dave Philp, Director for Digital Consulting, Strategy & Innovation Europe, joined Jim Lynch, senior vice president & general manager, Autodesk Construction Solutions, for a fireside chat at the Sustainable Innovation Forum to discuss resilient infrastructure. ​

“Digital tools and a secure cyber-physical fabric are important for resilience because they help us to simulate and optimize various future scenarios,” said David. “Being able to re-imagine our built environment model as a system of systems, connected by data is a key enabler of more sustainable, social value outcomes. We have a limited time window to make change happen and digital infrastructure that is linked to its physical counterparts offers a catalyst to accelerate change.” “To really make the gains we are talking about here, we need better collaboration,” said Autodesk’s Jim Lynch.

At Glasgow’s Central Station, Vikki Smith, an operations lead in our central ecology team, supported Network Rail showcase green technologies with a battery train developed by Vivarail, capable of traveling at a maximum speed of 100 kilometres per hour.

“Many people joined in the conversations on board Vivarail’s battery powered train journey out to Barrhead; an amazing example of sustainable zero emission transport which supports Network Rail’s Environmental Sustainability Strategy,” she said. “It has been an absolute privilege to support Network Rail and Vivarail to showcase their achievements at COP26.”

Alice Gillman, head of marketing for Vivarail, said: “It’s been a pleasure to work so closely with ArchTam to develop these important events. Running our emission-free battery train at COP26 is a wonderful backdrop for the Network Rail led environment days. ArchTam’s commitment to understanding the challenges and finding solutions to decarbonization fits in with our work to develop new technologies. We both want to find the answers we need to reach net zero in our railways” Lisa Constable, Weather Resilience and Climate Change Adaptation Strategy manager for Network Rail, said: “It was great to see so many of our stakeholders in person and to have interesting and meaningful conversations about delivery of our sustainability strategy. I’m so pleased we were able to share this unique experience alongside all the other COP26 activities.”

In a different part of the city, Richard Lowe, a director in our Energy sector, spoke at a COP fringe event organized by the utility company and energy supplier SSE on CCUS and hydrogen deployment. “The panel discussed how we can keep moving forward with CCS and hydrogen projects to meet the decarbonization targets set by Government. We also discussed how it was important to communicate to the public that these projects complement more traditional renewable electricity projects and that all these technologies will be needed to achieve net zero.”

Ioana Price, one of our senior structural engineers, represented the Women’s Engineering Society Climate Emergency Group at a panel discussion in the Green Zone at COP.

“We need to address the Climate Emergency with a holistic approach and Engineer-led solutions will be key to get us there,” she said. “We need to fundamentally change the way we deliver projects and stop working in silos – let’s do this together!”

Tuesday saw the arrival of Craig Edwards, managing director for the Environment and Ground Engineering in Europe. He attended a number of events, including one showcasing our pioneering drainage system using meteorological forecasting data and sensors to enable real-time operational management on the Forth and Clyde canal.

“We need to make sure we are really working across the regions and business lines to use our collective knowledge – that’s what COP cemented for me,” he said. “There’s a real desire here to make a difference, and a real sense of urgency. If we’re going to rise to the challenge, we have to get out of our silos. The only way we are going to solve this problem is with our collective brain.”

Wednesday was dedicated to clean transport. We contributed to the debate with an article from our COP26 report, a special edition of our Future of Infrastructure series on the opportunity for fleet owners to lead the way in the electrification of transport.

Thursday was dedicated to cities and the build environment. Thinking 50 years into the future, we considered the evolution of the 20-minute city concept, looking at what sustainable urban centers of the future could look like – and how to get there. Robert was invited to speak on behalf of the International Federation of Consulting Engineers at the French Pavilion in the Blue Zone for a session on decarbonizing buildings. He spoke about the launch of the FIDIC Climate Charter which aims to catalyze a movement at global level for all engineering professionals to become carbon literate and work to very significantly reduce carbon from across the whole lifecycle of the built environment.

In the coming days and weeks, we’ll be analyzing what we learned in Glasgow and how we can best put our talents to use in the push towards a better world that we are currently on track for. We’ll be sharing our conclusions in a forthcoming Future of Infrastructure edition, to be published in 2022.

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One of more than 10,000 applicants to be a volunteer for COP26, I was delighted to be one of the lucky 1,000 people chosen to welcome delegates to my hometown of Glasgow. Working with the sustainable transport team, I directed visitors to conference venues all over town and helped them make use of our public transport infrastructure.

It was a brilliant experience meeting people as they were coming to COP, as well as other COP26 volunteers and ArchTam colleagues. We all hail from different places and perspectives, but we all share the same passion for positive action to help mitigate climate change.

Over the past few weeks and in the lead up to COP26, I’ve had lots of conversations and it really does feel like the momentum for climate justice is gaining traction. People are getting increasingly involved with initiatives that tackle the crisis and are aware of the role they play. This provides me with hope that we can achieve the goals our leaders have been setting through partnership and collaboration.

In Scotland, and possibly elsewhere, however, one conversation keeps cropping up that isn’t helpful. There’s been a lot of chatter about world leaders arriving to Glasgow via private jets and travelling with large convoys emitting high levels of carbon dioxide emissions. While I understand world leaders have tight schedules, I would encourage them and their delegates to opt for sustainable travel methods where possible in an effort to provide the correct signals through thoughtful climate conscious considerations. This way they can lead by example to encourage others to take positive action.

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When launching the Clean Green Initiative at COP26, which was designed to help finance sustainable growth initiatives in developing countries, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson reflected that “climate has often been a silent victim of economic growth and progress.” However, to fully understand the impact of climate change and our response to it, we must also consider the significant social implications.

The impacts are real, from flood damage to households to the pressure on urban water sources driving up costs and forcing people into water poverty. Guided by public opinion, governments and policy makers are looking at ways of ensuring the transition to a green economy happens in a fair way. The European Union has established the Just Transition Mechanism to offer financial support to alleviate the socio-economic impacts of the move towards a carbon neutral economy, and the Scottish Government has set up a Just Transition Commission to monitor the impacts on communities, with Richard Lockhead as its Minister for Just Transition, Employability and Fair Work.

Environmental, social and governance issues are increasingly the central focus for businesses, too. At ArchTam, one of the key pillars of our Sustainable Legacies strategy is improving social outcomes through the projects we deliver.

In Canada, we conducted an environmental assessment for the development of a 300-megawatt wind farm, the largest First Nation wind partnership project in the country. As part of this, we engaged with the local community and delivered local jobs and training, with 15 percent of our project workforce being comprised of First Nation staff. Furthermore, due to the local staff knowledge of the land and proximity to the project site, we were able to more effectively protect and preserve the natural environment and provide time- and cost-saving opportunities for the client.

Through projects such as Henvey Inlet, our teams have distilled a number of lessons for delivering social value:

• Projects should consider the social implications at the earliest stage of decision making in order to embed social value through the project from design to delivery
• Efforts should be made to secure local support and engage in long-term partnerships
• Projects should engage with local people and business to ensure the infrastructure fits local needs and benefits those who will use it. This will also strengthen the project by harnessing local knowledge
• Projects should set tangible goals for delivering social value as part of the project – for example, the percentage of the workforce on big infrastructure projects living locally
• Consider social value beyond the project, building in local capacity through education and training initiatives that leave a legacy, for example.

As we transition to a green economy, we must ensure that the people, businesses and communities affected are not left behind. Similarly, as we design and develop sustainable, climate resilient infrastructure, we must ensure that the social value for local communities is part of the decision-making process.

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As world leaders gather in Glasgow for the COP26 climate summit, they might spare a thought for this research that shows Glasgow has one of the highest levels of fine particulates in the UK. The World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for air quality have recently been made more stringent and recommend that particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns (PM_2.5) should be limited to 10 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³) of air. But in in Glasgow, one of the UKs largest cities, concentration levels reach 16 micrograms per cubic meter.

Why does this matter? The finer material smaller than 2.5 mm (micrometers, where 1mm is equal to 0.001 mm) in size is specifically hazardous to human health, wherein it is accepted there is no safe threshold for exposure.  Some of the poorest social groups are often exposed disproportionally to higher concentrations, which when combined with pre-existing health conditions means they are least able to respond to measures intended to improve conditions.

This might help explain why in Glasgow, parts of which are among the most deprived areas in Scotland, some of the highest lung disease mortality rates in Britain can be found.

This is something we can all learn from. Management of particulate matter tends to focus on disrupting the pathway or reducing exposure, which is not necessarily the most sustainable long-term solution. We need to understand the source contribution and composition of the pollutants where people are being exposed to high concentrations. For example, those living near a busy road would be far more likely to be exposed to higher proportions of engine exhaust products, tyre, brake and road-wear, as well as resuspended material. 

In deprived communities where there is greater reliance on public transport or poorer underlying health that is more likely to be exacerbated by exposure to pollution, exposure profiles may be different when compared to more affluent areas. Understanding this allows solutions to be built around the population to promote engagement and accessibility. For example, encouraging adoption of public transport must be part of a wider package of affordable ticketing, high quality service, appropriate routing and integrated networking, so users are able to travel in ways that are comparable, or preferable, to private cars.

Additionally, atmospheric pollutants may potentially exacerbate the symptoms of COVID-19, and so the future of public health management is must consider air quality as part of any long-term strategy.  However, plans to reassign road-space for walking and cycling has faced significant opposition from driving groups as public transport struggles to accommodate a return to normal conditions. 

We can use this information along with other sources of Big Data, such as Google informatics or Strada, to think about how people instinctively use public realm to inform how to tackle development planning and managing transport infrastructure.  This requires a deeper holistic understanding of where, when, how and why we live, work and travel to support a real-world low emission lifestyle that does not rely on any single discipline or technological solution. 

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If I had a penny for every time climate-conscious engineers called for a holistic solution, I’d be rich. But while we know that to win the battle against climate change, we need to work together, given the scale and reach of many infrastructure projects, we have yet to fully embrace the complexity of embedding climate into every decision.

The International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC)’s Climate Change Charter aims to change all of that. Launched during COP26, the charter addresses all the key constituencies that can make change happen, including country-level member associations with their government links and policy influence; the engineering companies – contractors and consultancies – responsible for delivering programs and schemes across the built environment; and the projects, teams and individual professionals that do the work and innovate.

For climate action that has scale and impact, there is a need across the engineering profession for leadership and direction – global leadership. I was motivated to join FIDIC’s Sustainable Development Committee last year because I could see how much potential there was for a global professional body with over one million members around the world to galvanize action and create ripples through the engineering community – supplementing the personal motivations and passions of individual engineers for creating a net zero future with a foundational commitment that brings pace, energy and momentum to the entire profession.

Engineering infrastructure is known for its longevity and durability and many engineering assets are built without a fully defined lifespan, recognizing that they may be utilized for some generations to come. These energy, water, waste, transportation, housing and industry assets are often built with cement, concrete, bricks and steel – materials with a very high carbon intensity, many of which haven’t been designed with recycling or re-use in mind. Yet their emissions are under ever increasing scrutiny, meaning the need to decarbonize existing assets and design future assets so that they are either net zero in operation or enabled for future net zero performance are topics today’s engineer must address on a regular basis.

This is where the charter speaks to the individual engineer, recognizing the power that each engineer has in accordance with the choices they make about the projects they work on, the companies they work for and their professional codes and allegiances. Many of our engineering professionals are hungry for alternative, low carbon materials to work with, clean energy construction plant and vehicles to deliver with and tools, dashboards and key performance indicators that can drive a system-wide approach to decarbonization.

Working for a major engineering and environmental consultancy, I am conscious that we have within our community of practitioners, the solutions and practices that will make this shift tangible. When we leverage our innovation and scale, we bend down the emissions curve from engineering infrastructure. That was the motivation behind our ScopeX approach, which considers whole life emissions from the assets we help our clients create, drives down the carbon load and is the cultural mindset that we are embedding into all our built environment projects. 

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A key plank of the UK government’s ambition to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 is the ability to capture and store carbon before it is released into the atmosphere. It has set a carbon capture target of up to 30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year by 2030.

To encourage investment in the area and bring down costs, the government has announced a £1 billion (US$1.4 billion) scheme for carbon capture utilization and storage projects. It intends to deploy carbon capture through clusters, which it defines as including a first phase of at least two carbon capture projects, and a transmission and storage network involving both onshore and offshore pipelines and storage capability. This approach allows it to direct funding to areas of greatest potential impact, helping some of the UK’s heavy industrial regions decarbonize and ensuring a socially just transition.

The scheme also encourages collaboration by bringing different bodies together. For success, these groups will need to share information and best practices.

Two projects have been selected for fast tracked funding under Track 1 of the scheme. These are the East Coast cluster in the Humber and Teesside and the Hynet cluster in the North West of England and north Wales.  There are another three clusters in development.  The East Coast cluster alone has the potential to capture nearly 50 percent of UK industrial carbon emissions, and its transition is essential if the UK is to meet its zero carbon goals.  ArchTam has supported the development of the Teesside cluster network since the very start of that project.

While this announcement is welcome, it’s important that the government provides clear signals to the other clusters and their investors that they should continue to develop at the pace required. At a COP fringe event organized by the utility company and energy supplier SSE on CCUS and hydrogen deployment, I will outline that more clarity is urgently needed to unlock much needed private investment in the deployment of CCUS.  This in turn unlocks the deployment of hydrogen, initially through blue hydrogen but then transitioning to green hydrogen.

SSE are at the forefront of developing low carbon power stations to complement the increased deployment of renewables to provide the UK’s electricity, and we’ve have been working with them on the development of the Keadby 3 and Peterhead carbon capture power station projects.

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Working with nature to enhance urban and coastal resilience is a logical approach to counter the effects of climate change. Asia is rich in natural resources, but investments at large scale implementations have been relatively low.  Southeast Asia alone has 200 million hectares of terrestrial forests and is home to the world’s largest potential blue carbon stock – degraded coastal wetlands that (if restored) can sequester large amounts of carbon. 

Recently, I spoke on this topic at a seminar co-organized by ArchTam and the Singapore Economic Development Board, with panelists including Indranee Rajah, Minister in Singapore Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Finance and National Development. From government authorities to local investors, city stakeholders all know that climate action is redefining the global economy – and we discussed the potential of nature-based solutions (NbS) in helping cities rise to the challenge.

To date, much of the focus has been on decarbonization efforts, but they won’t be enough to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We need to think about complementary strategies such as carbon sequestration, and we also need to take steps to mitigate the effects of climate change. In both areas, NbS can play a big role. 

Investment needs to be unlocked in NbS to achieve its full potential. The bankability of NbS projects is not always immediately apparent, but a strong public-private partnership model can help with this by balancing and mitigating investment risks, alleviating concerns, providing investors some levels of assurance on their returns on investment, while bridging readily available capital to getting sustainable infrastructure projects off the ground.

Several Asian cities have already begun adopting this approach and some of the lessons learned in places such as Singapore, Shenzen and Hong Kong include:

• Singapore is among the first countries globally to set robust governance standards for carbon emissions. These include compatible definitions and taxonomies for NbS, and a consistent set of global standards for disclosures and reporting. If properly structured, investment in nature can be a new asset class which will drive capital to larger scale implementations.
• In Shenzhen, one of China’s early adopters of the “sponge city” concept, which aims to control and mitigate flooding, water pollution and scarcity, and home to the iconic Dasha River Ecological Corridor, the city utilizes techniques and green infrastructure retrofits such as permeable pavements, green rooftops, bioswales and constructed wetlands at a variety of scales to reduce the intensity of rainwater runoff, enhancing absorption capacities across the city.
• In Hong Kong, the award-winning design for the Tung Chung East Reclamation Eco-Shoreline created a new type of urban seaside, developed to add ecological value to waterfront reclamation infrastructure while simultaneously providing public open space and protecting against coastal storms and sea-level rise.

The lessons and proof points in these cities underline possibilities. If we can create the environment that unlock the value of NbS, we will have a good chance to create resilient urban ecosystems that help mitigate man-made climate change.

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As we navigate the effects of climate change and extreme weather events, there is another global emergency at play – that of biodiversity loss. This has been observed in coral reef ecosystems, which are home to more than 25 per cent of all marine life and support close to one billion people across the globe. These ecosystems are severely under threat from climate change, which is causing near-irreparable damage to reef structures and the biodiversity they support. New approaches are required, urgently and at scale.

To initiate and support a global agenda, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation has established the Resilient Reefs Initiative, a global partnership bringing together local communities, reef managers, and resilience experts to develop new solutions for adapting to the effects of climate change and local threats. ArchTam is the Initiative’s Delivery Partner, developing and delivering guidance to support World Heritage coral reef sites to develop and implement resilience strategies, combining proven resilience-building models with site specific coral reef expertise to institutionalise resilience-based management within governance and community structures.

As ArchTam’s Project Manager for Resilient Reefs, I have witnessed how crucial effective governance is for biodiversity restoration and ecosystem management, and that this governance be robust, equitable and responsive to community needs at the local scale.

At a global level, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), signed by 150 government leaders at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, commits signatories to the conservation of biological diversity and fair, equitable and sustainable use of biological outputs. Bookending COP26, the 15^th Conference of Parties for the CBD, convening in two parts in October 2021 and April 2022, will aim to further develop, finalise and adopt a new Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. This framework is a guide to worldwide action on the preservation and protection of natural and essential services through to 2030. Importantly, it recognises the impact that climate change can have on biological diversity, as well as the importance of ecosystems to support mitigation and adaptation. This relationship is also outlined as a precursor to Article 1 of the Paris Agreement.

Signatories to both the CBD and the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change have an opportunity and responsibility to align efforts that both address climate-related risk and maintain or enhance biodiversity. This means:

• Recognising the value of ecosystem services to human health, wellbeing and sustainable livelihood
• Valuing coastal and marine areas as natural buffers and essential carbon sinks that need to be effectively managed
• Implementing climate response efforts that benefit communities and natural ecosystems, with a view to enhance resilience
• Providing adequate resources to manage natural areas by increasing access to financial capital.

We know that biodiversity loss and climate change are interdependent and as outlined in the draft framework, “both emergencies need to be addressed in an integrated and urgent manner”. Initiatives like Resilient Reefs are examples of the global efforts being taken to address both biodiversity loss and climate change. As parties come together in Glasgow and for the CBD, we call on governments to work collaboratively and adopt key lessons and strategies that can mutually benefit the targeted outcomes of both conventions, notably through the adoption of nature-based solutions to support mitigation and adaptation efforts.

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The 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP) set four goals to those heading to Glasgow: advance actions that secure global net zero; adapt to protect communities and natural habitats; mobilize finance; and work together to deliver. While progress might not be as rapid as some people want, in the first week of COP we saw advancements on all of these fronts:

• On net zero, there were pledges by India and on behalf of UK listed companies and asset owners towards net zero;
• On adaptation, there was a renewed commitment and funding to reverse deforestation and the decisive action on methane emissions;
• And on finance, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney announced moves to encourage trillions to be invested into clean tech and the International accounting standards body IFRS announced a new International Sustainability Standards Board to develop broad and consistent global standards on sustainability disclosure for financial markets.
• The fourth action, working together to deliver, is often overlooked in headlines. But for the ArchTam team, our first week of COP was all about the conversations we had with clients, partners and new connections, some made on the podium and others whilst standing in line for security or biking from London to Glasgow.

Bringing together like-minded people at COP helps to align commitments, knowledge and experiences. It is these connections that will help us deliver our Sustainable Legacies strategy, and ultimately a better world.

This week started by a two-day leaders’ summit, followed by theme days devoted to finance, energy, youth and public empowerment, and nature. Our COP26 report, a special edition of our Future of Infrastructure series, was designed to contribute to these debates with practical solutions, in particular on how to embed climate considerations into financial and commercial decisions, on decarbonizing the energy system, and on the lessons of rewilding.

We also held events in our Glasgow and Manchester offices, as recounted below among the week’s highlights from the team:

Richard Whitehead, Managing Director – Buildings + Places, UK & Ireland at ArchTam

“There was a real ‘buzz’ in Glasgow – recognition that the challenge is huge but that if we ALL take action then we will succeed. A really inspiring experience and I’m more committed than ever to delivering our Sustainable Legacies strategy.

“It was a great opportunity to meet people from different industries and backgrounds  – from agriculture, to  retail, and chemicals – to share best practice and ideas. And of course there was the panel discussion at ArchTam‘s Glasgow Office which explored ‘How we can inspire and engage our communities to drive climate action’ with excellent speakers including Hermione Taylor, Kit England, Jack Lenox and Claire Bonham-Carter expertly chaired by James Banks.”

Claire Bonham-Carter, Principal, Director of Sustainable Development

 “Cycling from London to Glasgow has led into some great conversations!  It really was an inspirational experience for me, and it turns out it is inspiring for others – on each panel I spoke on, the host remarked on the bike as they introduced me and also reflected on their own personal bicycle use and how they could/should/will do more.”

“Google, ArchTam, the mayors of Houston and Phoenix and the C-40 network of cities gathered together to discuss new and powerful ways that data, tools and targeted support are accelerating government actions in the fight against climate change. Cross-sector collaborations can unlock data at scale, and the insights from that will allow us to do what needs to be done, faster.”

Chris White, Associate Environmental Economist and National Capital Laboratory Lead.

“I think the scale of the interest amongst the public and the private sector has been really exciting – it seems like we’ve reached a different level compared to previous COPs. 

“We’re always looking for new technologies to employ in the National Capital Laboratory, and I will go home with plenty of new ideas – from discussing how to use satellites to count walrus from space to understand the impacts of sea ice loss with WWF and the British Antarctic Survey.”

Andy Thomas, Regional Director. Head of Visualization & VR, Europe at ArchTam

“Exploring the green zone was great – seeing a huge range of diverse climate action projects from around the world. There was a real buzz around the venue.

“COP26 also gave me the chance to meet in person with our client UKGBC. Having worked very closely with them for the last few months on the Virtual Pavilion, it was amazing to finally meet and discuss future collaboration opportunities together.”

Kirils Holstovs, a young bridge engineer who represented his home country of Latvia at Youth4Climate Pre-COP26 summit in Milan and is helping raise the voice of young engineers at COP.

“The most important meeting for me at COP so far was when I managed to engage President for COP26 and Minister of State at the Cabinet Office Alok Sharma. In the few minutes I had with him I presented the COP26 Joint Statement of International Youth Organisations to him and explained why it matters. 

“The overall impression of COP is that everyone you speak to has done something remarkable and represents an important perspective. If you stop any person at COP and start talking, you could literally speak for hours.”

Ian Gillies, Practice Lead Renewables

“My most interesting conversation was with a politician discussing the need to accelerate action. He engaged seriously and we talked about possible actions to engage the public.

“I also walking through a demonstration organized by a coalition of African countries asking for climate justice. It was all very good natured, but they obviously wanted to make sure that delegates were taking notice of their issues.”

Dave Phlip, Director – Digital Consulting, Strategy & Innovation Europe

“What has been most striking to me is presence and energy of youth delegates and their ambition to create a legacy of hope and thriving communities. Though I failed to be convinced by a Canadian sustainable coffee company owner who reckoned his nut-based drink was better than a Scottish cup of tea.”

“At COP, a United Nations delegate reminded us that while we need to urgently address climate change, we must also keep maintaining and advancing modern infrastructure to support societal needs both now and in the future.”

Stephen Gleave, Regional Cities Lead, Manchester

“We took the sustainable decision to take the issues of COP to our clients and colleagues in Manchester, bringing people from different disciplines and sectors together to explore the challenges together. Although we understand very well the problems we face, there are still big gaps in knowing the best solutions and we must work together with common purpose to address this.

“In the Manchester city region, there is a clear ambition in the Green Revolution team – and it was great to hear from them directly about their plans to level up the public transport network to give London-style accessibility and pricing.”

Kate Nicholson

Graduate Environmental Scientist and COP volunteer

“It was great to meet and interact with other COP26 volunteers and my ArchTam colleagues, speaking with other like-minded individuals from all different backgrounds who share a common goal of supporting action against climate change.”

In the week ahead, we’re looking forward to more discussions and announcements – and another event at our Glasgow offices hosted in partnership with the Climate Crisis Advisory Group (CCAG). Our panel of experts, including Sir David King, Chair of Climate Crisis Advisory Group, Cambridge University, Dr Fatima Denton, United Nations University and member of CCAG, and Robert Spencer, Business Line Director – Environmental, Social and Governance, ArchTam, will be considering: How do we deliver an achievable and resilient net-zero world?

Robert says: 

“COPs are also about networking and re-establishing partnerships and relations, and I’m looking forward to safely engaging in all those ad-hoc discussions that we have missed since the pandemic began. I’m particularly looking forward to our panel event on Wednesday evening, which has been inspired by our Net Zero Visions of the future work for BEIS in partnership with Deloitte and University of Cambridge. It will provide ongoing impetus and exchange of ideas for the role of infrastructure enablers like ArchTam in delivering this vision, partnering with finance, academia government and industry and infrastructure clients.

“There has been a lot of good news already and it will be interesting to see if there is any further definition on carbon pricing and enhancement of formal carbon markets globally in future or whether we will continue to see more regional and voluntary carbon market evolution.”

The coming week will also see themed discussions around adaptation, loss and damage, gender, science and innovation, transport, and cities, regions and the built environment. Our COP26 report addresses these themes with articles on harnessing water technology for urban self-sufficiency, the opportunity for fleet owners in the switch to electric vehicles, and ideas on how to create the sustainable urban centers of the future.

Craig Edwards, Managing Director, Environment & Ground Engineering, UK & Ireland

“I’m looking forward to the buzz of hearing from a lot of inspirational people. I expect to feel challenged, both personally and professionally about how we can use our skills to improve and protect our planet.”

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