UK Landscape Architects Declare Climate & Biodiversity Emergency

The twin crises of climate heating and mass biodiversity loss are the most serious issues of our time. Infrastructure, buildings and construction play a major part, accounting for nearly 40% of energy related carbon dioxide (CO²) emissions but climate heating is only one of the drivers accelerating global biodiversity loss and dramatic rise in extinctions. Changes in land and sea use, exploitation of organisms, pollution, invasive alien species and erosion of precious soils compound the crisis.

While we have seen major improvements to practice over the last 20 years, meeting the needs of our society without breaching the earth’s ecological boundaries will demand a paradigm shift. Together with our clients and collaborating consultants, we will need to commission, plan and design landscapes, cities, infrastructures and buildings as indivisible components of a larger, constantly regenerating and self-sustaining system in balance with the natural world.

As we increasingly become urban dwellers, investment in city development must also consider wider global landscapes and ecosystems as fundamentally interrelated parts of the city. Nature based solutions will form the basis of our response.

The research and technology exist for us to begin that transformation now, but what has been lacking is collective will. Recognising this, we are committing to strengthen our working practices to create landscape architecture and urbanism outcomes that have a more positive impact on the world around us and which conserve and enhance the natural and built environment.

We will seek to:

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2B Landscape Consultancy ACD Environmental ADP Architecture Ltd AECOM AFLA Ltd Agathoclis Beckmann Ltd Alexandra Froggatt Design Alexandra Steed URBAN Allen Pyke Associates Allen Scott Landscape Architecture Ann-Marie Powell Gardens Anna French Associates Ltd Applied Landscape Design Ltd Arc Landscape Design and Planning Ltd Ares Landscape Architects Ltd Arup AS - Landscape Architecture Austin Design Works Barnes Walker Ltd Barton Willmore BBUK Studio Limited BCA Landscape BDP Blossoming Gardens Garden Design Bowles & Wyer Bradley Murphy Design Brodie McAllister landscape architecture B|D landscape architects Camlins Churchman Thornhill Finch Clifton Emery design Cookson & Tickner Cracknell CW Studio Dan Pearson Studio David Orr Consulting Davies White Ltd Davis Landscape Architecture Deacon Design Define Planning and Design DEP Landscape Architecture Design with Nature Ltd DJAO-RAKITINE LTD Emily Haysom erz ETLA Ltd Exterior Architecture Ltd fabrik Landscape Architects Farrer Huxley Fira Gelling Landscape Studio Gillespies GL Hearn Grant Associates Greenhalgh Landscape Architecture Greenwood-Hill Guarda Gustafson Porter + Bowman Harris Bugg Studio HASSELL Heatherwick Studio Henshall Green HLM Architects Hortus Collective HTA Design Huskisson Brown Associates Illman Young Ironside Farrar Limited J & L Gibbons James Hitchmough Jane Dobson Landscape Architect Joe Perkins Design Jon Sheaff and Associates Kim Wilkie Kinnear Landscape Architects KLA Studio | KollektiveLand Land Studio LandARC ltd Landscape Projects Landsmith Associates Layer.studio LDA Design Lhc Design Lichen Studio Liz Lake Associates Local Works Studio Louise Hooper Landscape Architect LUC Macgregor Smith Magenta Studio Martha Schwartz Partners Maydencroft McGregor Coxall Mike Hyatt Landscape Architects Milieu Landscape Design ND Landscape Architects Nicholas Pearson Associates NICHOLSONS Nigel Dunnett Node Novell Tullett OHLA Ltd One Creative Environments One Environments Oobe Optimised Environments Ltd (OPEN) Outerspace Urban Design Ltd People Place Nature Phil Allen Design Ltd Pick Everard PLACE Design + Planning PLAN:design Planet Earth Ltd Planit-IE Rachel Bailey Garden Design Ltd RaeburnFarquharBowen Randall Thorp rankinfraser landscape architecture rbmp Redbay design reShaped Roundfield Scape Design Associates Space + Place Design Spacehub Stantec UK Ltd Staton Cohen Landscape Architecture Strata Design Stride Treglown Studio Egret West Studio Engleback Studio Knight Stokoe TGP Landscape Architects The Environment Partnership (TEP) The Paul Hogarth Company The terra firma Consultancy Ltd Thirlwall Associates Tim O’Hare Associtates LLP Tir Collective TLC Environmental Limited to-studio Tom Stuart-Smith Topia Landscape Architects Townshend Landscape Architects Ubu design Ltd Uncommon Land Untitled Practice Urban Green Urban Landscape Partnership Urban Wilderness Ltd UrbanPioneers Ltd Urben Wardell Armstrong White Consultants Will Sandy | Design Studio WSP Wynne-Williams Associates Xanthe Quayle Landscape Architects
By signing the AD declaration, practices are demonstrating their shared commitment to its points and principles. The AD Steering Group does not assume that each signatory practice necessarily endorses all additional statements it makes, for example either in support of or questioning particular policies or campaigns. We welcome debate.