A decade of responsibilities
Reports are piling up. Scientific evidence of the damage to our environment – both in terms of biodiversity and the climate – as well as the responsibility of human activities for these changes, is accumulating. Human activities have changed and are changing the environment of our planet on a massive scale and at an unprecedented rate and magnitude. Climate change and environmental disruption are no longer hypothetical and their impacts can be observed and measured with increasing intensity.
There were a number of illustrations of the dynamics at work over the course of 2021. The first instalment of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report confirmed all of the scientific modelling and shed light on this “era of consequences” that we have entered, while COP26inGlasgow, although disappointing in its conclusions, allowed discussion of these findings.
What are the key takeaways? The need for a profound transformation of our lifestyles. If we look at the development of cities and infrastructure, buildings, energy and transport, we are quickly convinced of the unique responsibility that lies ahead of us: 72% of humankind’s global greenhouse gas emissions come from energy; oil meets 95% of the world’s freight transport needs while transport accounts for a quarter of global CO2 emissions;
the energy consumption of buildings accounts for 18% of global GHG emissions (including 8% for concrete alone) and they account for 10% of drinking water consumption.
And this is well understood. The 2021 edition of the Building Beyond Festival, on the theme of the Decisive Decade, shed light on and debated these challenges, while the first VINCI Environment Award called on all of the Group’s employees to come up with innovative environmental solutions, which now need to be promoted on a large scale to public and private players.
To succeed in this decisive decade, let’s continue our efforts and harness our collective responsibility to achieve concrete results. It calls for solutions to be found to accelerate the transition. These will be wide-ranging: innovation and technologies will play their part, along with reduced consumption, particularly of energy and resources.
Everyone must do their bit. At Leonard, we will continue to steer innovation and entrepreneurship towards transition solutions, to promote demand favourable to them, as well as to support partnership approaches within our sectors and between startups and large groups.
If the decade is decisive, we are responsible for it, we will be accountable for it.
— Julien Villalongue, director of Leonard
In this Year Book 2021-2022
1. Time to act
The transition on our agenda
A decade of responsibilities
2. Entering the decisive decade
Building Beyond: new ideas and courses of action
How can we achieve carbon-free road transport?
At the forefront of resilience
10 words in the debate
3. Catalysts of the transition
As a service – ally of the energy transition
These startups that innovate to finance decarbonation
When AI experiments in all directions
Tech and foresight to promote safety
4. The Contech revolution
A map of rising startups
All aboard the Contech revolution!
Drones and AI monitor worksites to the nearest centimetre
