Building a Shared Future for all Life
Green Building Council Nigeria
Leading the transformation of Nigeria's built environment to sustainability
"All Nature is linked together by invisible bonds and every organic creature, however low, however feeble, however dependent, is necessary to the well-being of some other among the myriad forms of life" George Perkins Marsh, 1864.
Three decades ago, the world’s leadership signed the Convention on Biological Diversity, as part of a global response to the biodiversity loss and the threat this posed to humanity’s health, wellbeing, and, even, survival. ‘Biodiversity loss can destabilize ecosystems, promote outbreaks of infectious disease, and undermine development progress, nutrition security and protection from natural disasters’ [24], [35]. It provides substantial economic benefits, for example, to tune of over $8 billion per annum in Nigeria [25]. Biodiversity loss is, therefore, not an abstract problem. It is a human development challenge, but more important, a human survival issue [8], [22]. The CBD, which promotes the conservation of biological diversity, is humanity’s response to this threat, with 22nd May (29th December until 2001) set aside to annually commemorate the convention, maintain awareness, and sustain action.
Action to address the causes of biodiversity loss has expanded since the first International Day for Biological Diversity (aka World Biodiversity Day) was marked in 1993. Three decades on, however, the picture remains bleak. Not to say nothing has been or is being done [4], [24]. Indeed, political leadership and action has grown markedly at global, national, and local levels. Nevertheless, the threat to our planet’s biodiversity has, if anything, grown over the passing decades [9], [30], [28], [36]. Why? Because, though impressive, the scale of action has not been enough to stem the tide. Expansions of conservation areas and curtailments on extractive industries, for example, have been dwarfed by the exponential growth in demand for natural resources. Efficiency and productivity gains mean fewer resources are required per unit of production than 30 years’ ago (as much as one third less). However, humanity’s material footprint – the total amount of raw materials extracted to meet our needs – has increased by 113% in the same period.
Ninety percent of the Upper Guinean Rainforest – once extending across much of West Africa – has been reduced to disconnected fragments as the result of our insatiable quest for land and natural resources to feed human development, with devastating impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity [14], [38].
The situation for the planet’s biodiversity therefore remains dire. According to the latest Living Planet Report, ‘Biodiversity…is being destroyed…at a rate unprecedented in history…with 1 million species [of animals, plants & insects] being threatened with extinction.’ [36]. Most of our planet’s terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems have been altered for the worse by human activity, resulting in precipitous declines in population sizes of the species within them. Losses are greatest in the planet’s most biodiverse regions (the tropics), which recorded a 94% decrease (65% for Africa) between 1970 and 2016. Evidence of this loss is seen in Nigeria, where the country’s high population growth rate and rapid urbanization are cited as key factors behind a disturbing decline in biodiversity [2], [25].
Seventy-five percent of our ice-free land surface has been significantly altered, most of the oceans are polluted, and close to nine tenths of wetlands have been lost, resulting in a ‘…68% decrease in population sizes of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish between 1970 and 2016’ [37].
How does this relate to green building? All five primary drivers of biodiversity loss – climate change, habitat destruction, pollution, invasive species & resource overexploitation – have direct or indirect linkages with the built environment [5], [13], [21]. Though not the sole cause of biodiversity loss – agriculture, industry, transportation & energy are similarly culpable – the built environment plays a major (even the leading) role in this existential drama. Beautification of private gardens and city parks with “exotic” but non-native species disrupts the ecological balance, impacting the survivability of native species. Extraction, processing & transportation of natural resources to meet demand for construction materials decimates habitats and pollutes the environment. Discharges (waste, emissions & effluents) from buildings contaminate air, land & waterways.
Rapid urbanization in combination with unsustainable building design choices & construction practices is directly & indirectly fueling biodiversity loss [7].
Construction of buildings and the infrastructure needed to service them, furthermore, results in the urbanization of previously natural land. This modifies the natural environment in ways harmful to resident species, for example, making pervious surfaces impervious. Urban expansion requires land, destroying, disturbing or fragmenting habitats. Construction and operation of buildings disturbs the land and species living on it, generates pollution, and creates noise & light which harms local fauna. A recent study by Adam et al. (2022) found that even '...artificial light at night, even as a single isolated source...' can disorient a Monarch butterfly, potentially disrupting mating habits and plant pollination [39].
The scale of these impacts is, furthermore, set to increase as the world’s cities become home to more than two billion additional people by 2030 [16], [27]. According to some scenarios, accommodating this could require the conversion of an additional 1.2-1.6m square kilometers of land to urban use by 2050 [6], [23], [31]. This is of relevance for biodiversity in Nigeria and the rest of the Global South, where 97% of the world’s population growth and 80% of urbanization is projected to occur in the next two decades. The population of African cities, for example, is projected to double by 2050 [17], [23], [27]. This, according to the World Green Building Council [33], will drive a huge increase in construction activity, ‘…with 80 per cent of [buildings] that will exist in 2050, yet to be built.’
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The exponential growth in numbers of people living in urban areas that began during the Industrial Revolution continues today, though the locus of growth has shifted to the developing world, particularly Africa whose cities will need to accommodate an estimated one billion more people by 2050 [23].
The built environment offers opportunities to arrest, and even reverse, biodiversity loss through green building [18], [21], [32]. Dematerialization can reduce as much as a quarter of materials consumed, decreasing demand for raw materials. Energy and water efficiencies respectively mitigate climate change and reduce freshwater extractions. Site optimization and biodiversity integration decreases the impact of buildings on sites and surroundings. Downstream impacts of buildings on ecosystems are mitigated through strategies to address waste, emissions, and effluents. Integration of end-of-life considerations introduces circularity into building designs, reducing both demand for virgin materials and landfilled waste. Of course, more green building alone will not do it. Increased green building activity must be complemented with more sustainable urban planning. For example, measures to better integrate the built and natural environments – semipermeable pavements & sustainable urban drainage systems, green and blue infrastructure incorporating local and native biodiversity, wildlife corridors, invasive non-native species controls – are needed to mitigate the ecologically harmful consequences of buildings.
There is some concern that the transition to a more sustainable built environment is not progressing as rapidly as it must. This is justifiable in that most progress over the last few decades has occurred in developed countries [10], [11], [12], [20], [29]. In the cities of North America, Europe and parts of Asia buildings incorporating, at least, some green features have become commonplace. The story is different in Nigeria and much of the Global South, where green building penetration remains low. Policy, financial, technological, political, and regulatory barriers, amongst others, continue to limit uptake. Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, has less than twenty buildings that have been certified “green” under a globally recognized rating system (e.g., LEED, EDGE, Green Star). Most new construction in the country, especially at the lower end of the market, still does not incorporate any “green” features. Faster action is therefore necessary to scale up sustainable urban development and green building practices in response to the threat of biodiversity loss.
Urban planners need to integrate the built and natural environments to protect and enhance biodiversity, with the added benefit of improvements to human health & wellbeing [19].
Nevertheless, progress on green building is being made in the Global South. Africa, for example, now boasts ten green building councils, up from one just over a decade ago [33]. Action on issues like climate change, building energy efficiency, nature conservation, resource management, extended producer responsibility, and sustainable urban development is gathering pace across the continent [10], [29], [34]. A case in point is Nigeria, where a National Biodiversity Strategy & Action Plan is in place, though updating is necessary to address the impacts of urbanization and construction. The country’s legislature recently passed a long-delayed Climate Change Act which strengthens building energy efficiency standards. A building energy efficiency code has been approved by the national government. Though yet to be backed by legislation, two of the country’s 37 subnational units – Lagos & Plateau States – have incorporated it into local building codes. The volume of discourse on the need to revise the country’s National Building Code is growing, presenting the opportunity to embed green building principles within it. Engagement amongst built environment professionals is also growing, with increased demand for green building training and accreditations. A growing (albeit still small) share of investment into the energy sector is going into renewable energy. Access to financial products targeted at sustainable urban development and green building is being simplified. Last, but not least, Nigeria now has a green building council that is actively working with local, regional, and global partners across the entire spectrum to promote sustainability in the built environment.
Faster change is however needed in light of the scale of the challenge and how far behind the developed world is in relation to sustainability in the built environment. Delivering this will require major changes across multiple sectors [1], [3], [20], [29]. It will require strategies that identify, target, and eliminate visible and invisible barriers to green building in the cities of the Global South. More investment in infrastructure and services that support and incentivize green building, e.g., renewables, sewage treatment, recycling services, is needed. Governments need to devise fiscal and regulatory instruments to tip the balance in favor of more sustainable building. Above all, political and professional leadership needs to step up engagement with the public to expand awareness and generate demand. As nature continues to suffer under relentless pressure from development, these, and more, will be needed to transform the built environment from “villain” to “hero” of the story. To borrow the CBD’s slogan for the 2022 World Biodiversity Day, the task of “Building a shared future for all life” requires more green building, particularly in the burgeoning cities of the Global South.
Originally published under the title "Building a Shared Future for all Life: Why We Need More Green Building" in the International Journal of Scientific and Engineering Research, Volume 13, Issue 5
The Author, Danjuma Waniko, is a Chartered Surveyor, Chartered Environmentalist and Green Star Accredited Professional. He is currently President of Green Building Council Nigeria.
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