Enniscorthy to host ‘make or break’ sustainable building summit

Scott Foster doesn't mince words when he talks about climate: "The aspiration to keep global temperatures below 1.5°C has been dashed," said the executive chair of the Enniscorthy International Forum's energy programme.

"Scientific analysts now bandy figures between 3°C and 5°C, and if we extrapolate from today's wacky weather to a much hotter globe, the word that comes to mind is 'hellscape'," he said.

This is what drives Foster and his colleague Barbara-Anne Murphy, chief executive of the Enniscorthy International Forum (EIF), as they prepare to host 200 attendees for a three-day summit they hope will reshape how the world approaches sustainable building.

In the face of shifting politics and slipping climate targets, the Forum will argue that transforming the built environment—responsible for 37 per cent of global carbon emissions—is the best means of avoiding worst-case climate change scenarios.

Discussions will be informed by key challenges: by 2030, 82 per cent of new population growth will occur in countries without building energy codes, while over 65 per cent will live in nations that have declared climate commitments but struggle to implement them. The building and construction sector, which accounts for 36 per cent of global energy consumption, lags on efficiency improvements, EIF said.

"We have arranged the style of the summit to be less of a formal conference and more of a gathering of motivated experts and leaders who exchange views and collect wits," Murphy said.

Speakers include Ireland's housing minister James Brown, California energy commissioner Andrew McAllister and UN under-secretary general Tatiana Molcean. In addition, France’s state architect Yves-Laurent Sapoval will join with grassroots passive house advocates from Maine to Massachusetts. This kind of bridging of the Atlantic divide is seen as increasingly important as current US federal policy drifts away from climate action. The forum's partnership with the UN Environment Programme aims to activate critical investments addressing decarbonisation, resilience, and improved quality of life. Crucially, the attendees are expected to carry the summit's messages back to leaders and grassroots players in their home countries, with the aim of turning the Wexford gathering into a global multiplier.

The world in Wexford

The choice of the 11,000-strong market town of Enniscorthy as the venue for this global climate discussion is intentional: the Enniscorthy International Forum emerged from conversations between Foster, formerly of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, and local champions of the passive house movement. Those discussions sparked the UN's framework guidelines for energy efficiency in buildings and eventually led to a formal partnership with the UN Environment Programme.

"Improving the performance of the built environment is the most effective way to meet the climate challenge while improving quality of life globally," the EIF said.

This message extends from rural Ireland to urban California, with commissioner Darcie Houck of the California Public Utilities Commission attending.

The summit's urgency reflects a conclusion from the UN's 2024 Emissions Gap Report: "quantum leaps in ambition, imagination, and commitment" are needed to avoid climate catastrophe. For attendees gathering in Wexford this month, those quantum leaps start with the buildings we live and work in every day.

The Buildings Action Coalition Summit runs from 17-19 June 2025 in Enniscorthy, County Wexford, themed "Bridges to a Sustainable Future: Innovation as a Critical Imperative in Troubled Times". For more information see: EnniscorthyForum.org.