Polish Green Building Council (PLGBC) in cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has developed a report: How to Decarbonise the Built Environment by 2050: Whole Life Carbon Roadmap for Poland. It is a publication prepared by the first green building council in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region. The report indicates a path towards achieving climate neutrality by the Polish buildings and construction sector. The launch will be accompanied by an open webinar with the authors of the report.
Poland is a signatory of the Paris Agreement, which requires that global net anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions reach zero by 2050. The European Union, as part of the European Green Deal, aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030. These targets will be achieved by decarbonising all sectors of the economy.
Buildings play a critical role in responding to the climate emergency and for the decarbonisation of the entire economy. The buildings sector, including construction, is responsible for about 38% of all global carbon emissions. Around 10% of these emissions are released upfront, during manufacturing, transportation of construction materials and the construction process itself, with 28% released during operation. In the EBRD region, buildings are responsible for over 43% of GHG emissions. The global building stock is likely to double by 2050 and given that buildings are expected to deliver more and more in terms of comfort, convenience and entertainment, emissions will increase considerably if little or nothing is done to reduce carbon intensity. Decarbonising buildings is one of the most cost-effective ways to mitigate the worst effects of the impending climate breakdown.
In response to these challenges, the Polish Green Building Council (PLGBC) in cooperation with the EBRD presents the report: How to Decarbonise the Built Environment by 2050: Whole Life Carbon Roadmap for Poland. The main objective of the report is to identify the decarbonisation pathway for the Polish construction industry in order to achieve climate neutrality. It is meant to be a reference guide for planning and strategy development by nine identified stakeholder groups.
Alistair Clark, Environmental and Sustainability Department Managing Director at EBRD.
“The EBRD’s mandate is to support countries in the region with their transition to an open and competitive market economy. Our objective is also to make these transitions to low-carbon and Paris Agreement aligned economies. We are aware of significant environmental and social impacts of the building sector. This is why we have supported the WorldGBC with the development of the Polish Decarbonisation Roadmap. We look at decarbonisation of the building sector as an opportunity for more and greener investments. The Bank is uniquely positioned to work along the building value chain and through the building lifecycle. The ERBD will support market transition in partnerships with counterparts who keep the environment and sustainability high in their agendas.”
This report provides a ‘roadmap’ to help illustrate and navigate the complex challenge Poland faces to decarbonise the construction sector by 2050. At the same time, it is a call for concrete actions within a specific timeframe. Decarbonisation of buildings (over their entire life cycle) requires continuous engagement and cooperation of many parties and this cooperation is a key task for all stakeholders.
Cristina Gamboa, CEO of World Green Building Council.
“This ambitious policy roadmap shows that with a Whole Life Carbon approach, the Polish building and construction sector can play a crucial role in attaining climate neutrality. It is inspiring to see our member Green Building Councils across our Europe Regional Network spearheading climate leadership towards a fully decarbonised built environment. We look forward to the release of a further nine national roadmaps as part of our #BuildingLife initiative in the coming months.”
The publication proposes concrete actions for nine stakeholder groups. These are: government and local authorities, developers, investors and building owners, designers (architects and civil engineers), manufacturers of building materials and technologies, contractors, building managers, financial institutions and NGOs, professional associations and academia.
The report is divided into nine sections, with the first eight providing background and context which will be especially useful for those who are relatively new to the topic of decarbonisation of the whole life cycle of buildings. The final section – the roadmap – will help organisations across the whole value chain to develop effective decarbonisation strategies. It contains specific and time-bound goals to 2050, divided by stakeholder groups. These can be referred to whenever plans and decisions affecting decarbonisation efforts are being made.
Work on the report was preceded by consultations with 40 industry organisations and institutions in Poland.
Alicja Kuczera, CEO of PLGBC.
“The path towards the decarbonisation of Poland’s building stock and construction sector presented in the report is undoubtedly very ambitious. However, without such bold visions, it is impossible to achieve climate neutrality. Secondly, ambitious visions must be translated into ambitious strategies, as only decisive, intensified and long-term action will allow the goals of the Paris Agreement and the European Green Deal to be met. We count on this report to be the pivot for all the action we need to take”
The authors of the Report are: Alicja Kuczera (PLGBC), Mateusz Płoszaj-Mazurek (Bjerg Arkitektur Polska).
Cooperation: Alexander Hadziivanov (EBRD), Audrey Nugent (WorldGBC), Stephen Richardson (WorldGBC).
Ewa Łydkowska (Vastint Poland) was responsible for edition.
The preparation of the report was supported by a working group consisting of the following experts: Hubert Bukowski (Innowo), Elżbieta Czerpak (Knight Frank), Agata Golec (Skanska), Ewelina Grodzicka (HB Reavis), Piotr Jurkiewicz (OW SARP), Ewa Kowalska-Ocneanu (WSP Polska), Henryk Kwapisz (Saint-Gobain), Bartosz Marcol (Arup Polska), Janusz Mizerny (Sweco Polska), Marta Siczek (Interface), Adam Targowski (Skanska).
The launch of the report How to Decarbonise the Built Environment by 2050: Whole Life Carbon Roadmap for Poland will take place on June 9th. It will be introduced by an open webinar with experts and authors of the publication: Alicja Kuczera (PLGBC), Julia Manning (EBRD), Mateusz Płoszaj-Mazurek (Bjerg Arkitektur Polska) and Adam Targowski (Skanska).
The report is available in two language versions: Polish and English.
Work on the issue of decarbonising construction will continue and develop through the #BuildingLife campaign, led by the World Green Building Council and funded by the Laudes Foundation and the IKEA Foundation. It aims to support the implementation of the European Green Deal. Ten European green building councils, including the Polish Green Building Council PLGBC, are developing an action plan to decarbonise the built environment throughout the life cycle of buildings.
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About PLGBC:
Polish Green Building Council (PLGBC) is a non-governmental organisation, which since 2008 has been carrying out a mission to radically improve the design, construction and use of buildings in Poland so that sustainable construction becomes a standard.
As a member organisation, we are the united voice of current and future leaders in our industry. Together, we strive to carry out a significant transformation of the construction environment to make it healthy and sustainable. This is our response to climate change and care for the Planet.
We are part of a global community of around 70 green building councils within the World Green Building Council.
