The Architects Declare movement has spread across the globe as over 20 countries have joined the fight to address climate change and biodiversity issues. The United States has announced its pledge to join. With 92 signatures collected from U.S.-based architecture practices like Perkins Eastman, Inaba Williams, SHAUM/SHEIH, and many more have expressed their commitment to taking action. 

Although the current COVID-19 pandemic and other political and economic issues have made headlines these past few months, the architecture industry has made its mark during the crisis. With the battle to mitigate climate change still ever-present, the United States has finally joined the fight. 

Initially launched in May 2019 in the U.K., Architects Declare aims to use the voices of architects to "galvanize the profession and provide a platform for advocacy and for sharing information and strategies for change." Initiated by NY-based non-profit The Architectural League, the U.S. branch of Architects Declare has expressed their plans to begin carrying out initiatives to address biodiversity loss, climate breakdown, and societal inequity. 

An excerpt from the U.S Architects Declare pledge states:

The interlinked crises of climate breakdown, biodiversity loss, and societal inequity are the most serious issues of our time. Buildings and construction play a major part, accounting for nearly 40% of energy-related carbon dioxide (C02) emissions while also having a significant impact on deforestation, habitat destruction, and species extinction.

Meeting the needs of our society without breaching the earth's ecological boundaries demands a paradigm shift in our behavior in the building sector. Together with our clients and collaborators, we must design buildings, cities, and infrastructures as indivisible components of a larger, constantly regenerating, and self-sustaining system.

The knowledge exists to begin that transformation now, but what has been lacking is collective will. As a sector, we must work together to reshape our approach to architecture and urbanism at the speed and scale the crises demand.