It's Not Too Late! - A Manifesto For Building A Better Future

Figure 1- Illustration by Ana Francesca Malai; It's Not Too Late!, 2025

Rising sea levels. Rising temperatures. Disruption of weather patterns. We are now living and experiencing the brutal effects of climate change and gaining a glimpse into what the future will be like if we don’t put some harsh measures in place in order to try and erase what has been done. 

My manifesto includes three simple points, which, if understood and followed, can help to set us along the right path of rebuilding our planet and building a better future for the next generations to live in and enjoy. 

1- Promote Renewable Energy

The frequency of natural disasters around the world as a result of global warming is scary and depicts how our world is crumbling because of humanity’s past poor choices (Lin, Y., & Feng, C., 2023). Climate change will continue intensifying over the next few decades, so our overall carbon emissions must be lowered or captured in order to maintain global warming to <2°C (Liu, Y., & Feng, C., 2023). To help this, the EU announced a Climate Law in 2019 known as the ‘European Green Deal’, which aims to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050- which led to the UK having a legal obligation to generate 20% of its energy consumption from renewable energy sources (Lu, Y., et al., 2020). Therefore, a way to promote renewable energy usage is through legislation and government advice- which can heavily influence the use of renewable energy (Liu, Y., & Feng, C., 2023).

2- Protect Natural Ecosystems

The natural world is crucial to helping us build a better future and should be managed and valued as natural assets (Barbier, E. B., 2011).  Natural ecosystems offer important services to the natural environment, such as: carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, erosion control and water purification, as well as providing natural protection against floods, storms and tsunamis (Barbier, E. B., 2011). They also maintain biodiversity, support ecological balance and offer aesthetic landscapes for our well-being (Barbier, E. B., 2011). By working together and engaging local communities, we can help manage and utilise the natural resources sustainably, furthermore, continued research and monitoring of our ecosystems by specialists and professionals is key to help our understanding of how we can further help to protect our natural ecosystems (Barbier, E. B., 2011).

3- Encourage Green Building Practices

Building using renewable resources and technological innovations can help to reduce energy consumption and emissions, which can also help to improve the urban biodiversity and protect the ecosystems (Zuo, J., & Zhao, Z. Y., 2014). By adopting green building practices and technologies, we can enhance the sustainability performance of our buildings (Chan, A. P. C., Darko, A., & Ameyaw, E. E., 2017). We can do this by, using eco-friendly materials and technologies to help reduce the environmental footprint of buildings by choosing locally sourced, renewable and recyclable materials (University of Greater Manchester, 2023). Switching to renewable energy systems can also help, as well as adopting water conservation techniques, such as: rainwater harvesting and efficient plumbing systems (University of Greater Manchester, 2023). Finally, exploring and using biophilic design can promote a closer connection between humans and nature (e.g by using green spaces and natural lighting), which can motivate a need of protecting our natural world and building a better future (University of Greater Manchester, 2023).

Ultimately, this issue affects everyone, so therefore, we must convince everyone to stand together and help build a better and greener future- because it’s not too late to make an impact!

References:

Barbier, E. B. (2011). Capitalizing on nature: Ecosystems as natural assets. Cambridge University Press.

Chan, A. P. C., Darko, A., & Ameyaw, E. E. (2017). Strategies for promoting green building technologies adoption in the construction industry—An international study. Sustainability, 9(6), 969.

Liu, Y., & Feng, C. (2023). Promoting renewable energy through national energy legislation. Energy Economics, 118, 106504.

Lu, Y., Khan, Z. A., Alvarez-Alvarado, M. S., Zhang, Y., Huang, Z., & Imran, M. (2020). A critical review of sustainable energy policies for the promotion of renewable energy sources. Sustainability, 12(12), 5078.

Shrader-Frechette, K. S., & McCoy, E. D. (1995). Natural landscapes, natural communities, and natural ecosystems. Forest and Conservation History, 39(3), 138-142.

University of Greater Manchester. (2023, November 11). Green Building Practices: Sustainability in the Construction Industry. https://www.bolton.ac.uk/blogs/green-building-practices-sustainability-in-the-construction-industry

Zuo, J., & Zhao, Z. Y. (2014). Green building research–current status and future agenda: A review. Renewable and sustainable energy reviews, 30, 271-281.