Leading Singaporean landscape architects declare climate and biodiversity emergency
Leading Singaporean landscape architecture firms including Grant Associates are calling on local and international landscape architects to act in response to climate change and biodiversity loss.
While the world is currently struggling with the current COVID Pandemic, the Climate & Biodiversity Emergency remains a critical global issue. There may be hope for an effective vaccine or treatment for the virus in the near future, but without collective global action, there are no similar prospects for solving the climate and biodiversity emergency.
Even if Singapore aspires to become a City in Nature, it is definitely not immune to the impact of the Climate Change and Biodiversity loss. Singapore Landscape Architects Declare is therefore asking for a collective action to confront the twin crisis as ‘the most serious issue of our time’.
Members of the SG Landscape Architects Declare have pledged to design landscapes with a more positive impact on the environment, which should then be part of a larger self-sustaining system.
In a joint statement, the group commented:
Whilst we have always regarded ourselves as stewards of the environment there is much more we can do. We, as landscape architects, are very well positioned to lead the change in meeting societies’ needs without breaching the earth’s ecological capacities and environmental limits.
The idea is that a wider-ranging declaration of intent, followed by action, cooperation and knowledge sharing will help facilitate this transformation
The founding signatories of Singapore Landscape Architects Declare include D'Land, DP Green, Grant Associates, ICN Design International, Ramboll Studio Dreiseitl and Stephen Caffyn Landscape Design.
Action points proposed by Singapore Landscape Architects Declare include:
- Raise awareness of the climate and biodiversity emergencies and the urgent need for practical action amongst clients co-consultants and supply chains.
- Preserve and protect existing irreplaceable landscapes and habitats whilst protecting and optimising areas of functional and biodiverse landscape in all developments.
- Adopt a whole systems approach to landscape design recognising that soils, bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi are key factors for ecosystem survival and carbon sequestration.
- Promote low embodied carbon, and look to maximise carbon sequestering, responsible and sustainable use of water and biodiversity net gains in all projects.
- Establish climate and biodiversity mitigation, adaptation and resilience principles as the key measure of the industry’s success: demonstrated through awards, prizes and listings.
Stefaan Lambreghts, Associate Director of Grant Associates, comments:
It is great to see a diverse group of Singaporean landscape architects putting together this declaration and we hope that our collective voice and actions can contribute to a net positive impact on climate and biodiversity. As landscape architects in Singapore, we are in a fortunate position to operate in a city state, which aspires to be ‘A City in Nature’. With our professional skills, we need to make the most of this opportunity and deliver a more future proof environment which addresses the existential threats of climate change and biodiversity loss. In our daily life and work, we are inspired by the natural world and it is our moral duty to protect and enhance it.
All landscape architects based in Singapore are being invited to join the movement by signing up at https://sg.landscapearchitectsdeclare.com/