The Planning for the Future consultation closed last week, and the profession has responded. The RIBA, Architects Declare, LETI and others have made public statements and provided guidance to colleagues and one of the most important themes was the lack of emphasis on climate action and biodiversity.

But why did the Planning for the Future white paper have so little on environmental sustainability? I could write a whole article on how frustrating this is and how “they” need to be educated on the reality and scale of ecological crises we’re facing, but that would be missing the point.

This omission is not evidence that the paper’s authors are climate change deniers or anything so salacious. The Planning for the Future white paper doesn’t have much to say about carbon emissions or other environmental damage indicators because planning isn’t considered to be a key lever for incentivising behaviours to address the climate and ecological crises.

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