🌎This year, Foster + Partners participated in COP30 Brazil, contributing to conversations on the future of sustainable cities, resilience, and the role of the built environment in advancing global climate goals. Key themes that emerged across the week: • Different contexts require different pathways While developed economies face one set of built environment challenges, emerging economies face another. Frameworks such as the World Green Building Council's country roadmaps are essential to shaping locally grounded, high-impact solutions. • Resilience and low-carbon design must work together These priorities are often cast in opposition, but the most productive conversations at COP30 were about integration. A building or district cannot be considered low-carbon if it must be rebuilt after every extreme climate event: resilience and mitigation must be designed in tandem. • A rising focus on cities and the built environment With the opening day themed around sustainable cities, the built environment’s contribution to global emissions, and its potential to drive positive change, is increasingly recognised. The sector represents a major opportunity for climate action, innovation, and job creation. • Indigenous leadership and just transition Indigenous voices played a central role at COP30. Their stewardship, knowledge, and rights must be reflected in decision-making, and in shaping a truly just transition. Vernacular and place‑based approaches offer valuable lessons for the design community in shaping sustainable futures. Thank you to the partners, organisations, and delegates who shared insights and collaborated throughout the week. The conversations in Belém will continue to inform our work as we help clients and cities navigate the complex, interconnected challenges of climate, resilience, and development. Pictured: Elinor Huggett, Associate Partner and Senior Environmental Designer at Foster + Partners speaking at COP30. #COP30 #BuiltEnvironment #SustainableCities #ClimateAction #JustTransition #Resilience
Interesting
Really interesting take on integrating resilience and low-carbon design.
It is useful to be reminded that sustainability is not a single variable, but rather a system of trade-offs. The built environment sits at the intersection of material cycles, climate risk and local context, and the most effective solutions emerge when all three are considered simultaneously in the design process. Resilience, embodied carbon and cultural continuity are not competing priorities, but rather interdependent constraints. When treated as such, they encourage the industry to adopt better engineering practices, smarter building envelopes, and genuinely future-proof urban forms.