CANNES (14 March, 2023) –ULI Europe CEO Lisette van Doorn called on all MIPIM attendees to put the retrofitting of the existing building stock at the heart of decarbonisation.

Launching MIPIM’s Road to Zero programme on Tuesday 14 March, van Doorn said it was important for the industry to move from ‘competition to deep and radical collaboration in order to tackle decarbonisation and the retrofit challenge,’ adding that ‘we cannot wait for regulation to drive change.’

“Generally, it’s regulation that creates the sense of urgency when things need to change and a level playing field needs to be created. However, so far with climate change, that has not been the case. While existing regulation focused on climate change might point us in the right direction, it certainly doesn’t get us to net zero. The cost of doing nothing is still not visible. So, it’s time to create our own sense of urgency,” said van Doorn.

To accelerate decarbonisation, van Doorn said there needs to be a mindset and behavioural change. This includes companies joining forces on the most difficult of topics such as carbon pricing; sharing existing practices and what works and what doesn’t, or organisations across the sustainability spectrum partnering to support our industry.

Van Doorn mentioned that the ULI C Change programme was set up just over a year ago to support its members and the industry. Along with a leading group of our corporate members, the need was recognised for practical solutions that remove the major barriers to speed up and scale up the decarbonisation of the built environment and create a level playing field by ensuring that in this fragmented industry, the tools and education are available to all companies, large and small.

Van Doorn said that we also needed to take more time to understand every stakeholder’s context and viewpoints. For example, ensuring occupiers understand the broader impact of buildings on global emissions. “If you are a drinks manufacturer, a chemicals or pharmaceuticals company, then your priority when it comes to decarbonising is probably not your buildings. It’s likely to be supply chains and emissions from your core processes. However, that three or four percent [emissions from buildings] may be small to them but for us as an industry, it’s a vital part of the much larger 39% of global emissions that we’re trying to tackle.”

She closed with emphasising the upside potential and long term value creation – that climate action done properly can drive social change. When retrofitting, there also needs to be a focus on repurposing and using the green transition to build better places that suit the needs of today’s workers, residents and visitors. “There is much more at stake than ‘just’ the decarbonisation of the built environment. Certainly, we owe it to our cities to make this a fair transition to ensure our cities remain investable and liveable.”

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Journalists are invited to attend the opening session on the Road to Zero stage. ULI has curated seven sessions on the Road to Zero stage. Details of all ULI sessions at MIPIM are here.

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About the Urban Land Institute

The Urban Land Institute is a non-profit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the institute has more than 45,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines. For more information on ULI, please visit uli.org, or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.