Eight major contractors rally to tackle climate change

Aaron Morby 5 years ago
Share

A group of the country’s heavyweight contractors have teamed up to launch a pledge to drive their businesses and production towards net-zero carbon.

UK contractors join the Construction Declares movement
UK contractors join the Construction Declares movement

The declaration follows discussions coordinated by Multiplex with other leading contractors and has eight founding signatories: BAM Construct UK, BAM Nuttall, Canary Wharf Contractors, Morgan Sindall, Multiplex, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska UK and Willmott Dixon.

Now other firms are being invited to sign up to UK Contractors Declare initiative to form a united front to drive change in the industry.

The founders will commit to specific action aimed at achieving net-zero carbon emissions by no later than 2050. They will also share knowledge and resources on an open-source basis, to address the climate and biodiversity emergencies.

A statement issued by the Contractors Declare firms said: “We are hoping that strong support for the Contractors Declare statement will energise our sector to work with our clients, designers and supply chains to take action.”

Buildings and construction play a major part, accounting for nearly 40% of energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions while also having a significant impact on natural habitats.

The industry is set to play a key role in reducing emissions from the building stock and improving the environment.

Working as part of the wider global ‘Construction Declares’ movement, Contractors Declare is already engaging with Architects Declare and Engineers Declare to help promote a joined-up and strategic approach to combining resources, lobbying government and driving meaningful and effective change.

Contractors’ 10 commitments


  1. Raise awareness of the climate and biodiversity emergencies and the urgent need for mitigation and adaptation action among our employees, clients, peers, collaborators and supply chains.
  2. Advocate for faster change in our industry towards regenerative practices and higher Governmental investment to support a just transition, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
  3. Establish climate mitigation and adaptation principles, as well as maximise biodiversity and air quality enhancement. This will be demonstrated through commitments, actions and achievements. Seek for us and our key supply chains to set targets for our own emissions and for the assets we design and build using recognised standards aligned to the 1.5-degree scenario.
  4. Share knowledge and research on an open-source basis, to address the climate and biodiversity emergencies.
  5. Evaluate all new projects against the aim to contribute positively to mitigating climate and biodiversity breakdown, to adapt to climate change using nature-based solutions and encourage our clients to adopt this approach.
  6. Support the upgrade of existing assets for extended use as a more carbon-efficient alternative to demolition and new build whenever there is a viable choice.
  7. Support and promote the use of life cycle costing, whole-life carbon modelling and post-occupancy evaluation/performance measurement. We will do that as part of our standard scope of work to reduce both embodied and operational resource use for the assets we design and build.
  8. Adopt and support more regenerative principles, with the aim of achieving net-zero in line with recognised standards. For buildings, this should be in line with the UKGBC’s industry created definition of net-zero carbon.
  9. Work together with engineers, designers, clients, collaborators and supply chain to further reduce construction waste and transition to a circular economy.
  10. Accelerate the shift to low embodied carbon materials in all our work and promote meaningful actions that will lead to reducing embodied carbon by at least 40% by 2030, based on the World Green Building Council call to action.

Senior directors of contractors wishing to commit to the UK Contractors Declare can do so at: contractorsdeclare.co.uk

Latest news

Blenheim House payout hopes fade as claims hit £33m

Suggested 10p in the £1 payout for subcontractors now unlikely
9 hours ago

£1.3bn decarbonising and fire safety deals out for bid

South East Consortium starts hunt for firms for housing upgrade work prize
9 hours ago

£30m turnover M&E contractor files administration notice

TNA Electrical makes administration application
10 hours ago

Plan for first big offices at £1.7bn Manchester innovation hub

500,000 sq ft of offices planned at renamed Sister development
9 hours ago

Murphy starts work on £2.5bn Eastern Green Link 1

Giant subsea electricity cable project will take three years to build
9 hours ago

Subcontractors wanted for work across Birmingham

Latest Constructionline event: Register now
10 hours ago

Acheson Construction files administration notice

£53m turnover South West contractor lodges court notice
1 day ago

Hunt for 10 firms to deliver £37bn new hospital plan

Race starts for mega-framework with pledge to spread work among all firms
1 day ago

Springfield to build homes for army of green energy workers

Scottish house builder sells 2,480 plots to Barratt Redrow in strategy switch
1 day ago

Preferred bidder for Stoke city centre scheme

Genr8 Kajima to build Etruscan Square scheme in Hanley
1 day ago

BAM go-ahead for £56m Glasgow leisure centre

Work to start on East Renfrewshire complex later this year
1 day ago

Network Rail fined £3.75m after double track worker death

Michael Lewis and Gareth Delbridge were killed while working on rail line in Wales
4 days ago

Local contractor Castle lands £60m South Shields campus

Work to start this summer on new home for South Tyneside College and South Shields Marine School
4 days ago

GRAHAM wins £100m deal after safety regulator approval

Dyecoats scheme in Leeds becomes one of first to receive Building Safety Act Gateway 2 green light
5 days ago

London Super Sewer now fully connected

10-year construction programme draws to a close
4 days ago

McLaren signs off £125m London Bank over-station job

Developer Helical secures funding deal for 8-storey office job
4 days ago

Work on Labour’s new towns to start by 2029

More than 100 sites put forward for a dozen new town locations
5 days ago

Unite hails 12 years without a site accident at Battersea

More than 4,000 union members have worked on the redevelopment without a single serious accident
4 days ago

Housing orders surge offers hope after 5.2% new work fall last year

Housing orders surged 24% in final quarter of 2024 as developers release schemes
5 days ago

McLaren Property gets new Construction Director

Jon Mangham joins from Equans
5 days ago

BAM Construction suffers £40m loss after Co-op Live setback

Civils business profit surges 24% to £80m
5 days ago

Over 150 jobs axed as J S Wright goes under

Insolvency specialist FRP Advisory goes in at Birmingham M&E specialist
5 days ago

Extra cash found to speed-up safety regulator

Government to spend extra £2m to clear backlog of high rise approvals
5 days ago

Galliford Try lands £63m RAF accommodation deal

Work to start within months at RAF Digby in Lincolnshire
5 days ago

Balfour Beatty wins Trent arched bridge job

Briton Fabricators will build the £13m bridge from prefabricated sections
5 days ago

Goldbeck to build new £50m Cardiff County Hall

German-owned contractor vowing to be a "disrupter in the UK market"
6 days ago

Laing O’Rourke chairman to step down

Ray O'Rourke to take over chair from Sir John Parker
6 days ago

Farrans lands Leeds Bradford Airport phase 2 upgrade

Contractor takes follow-on refurb job after terminal extension
6 days ago

ISG built Bristol housing block to be torn down

Contractor's collapse sinks Bristol flats remediation claim
6 days ago

RSK revenue nears £2bn as losses soar to £132m

Refinancing last summer puts group on course for more growth this year
6 days ago

Contractor services