This week global leaders will convene at the UN Climate Summit COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, with a goal to work together and negotiate an outcome that will fulfil the Azerbaijani Presidency goals of ‘enhancing ambition’ and ‘enabling action’ to ensure that the world is put back on track to a 1.5°C trajectory.
The built environment is responsible for almost 40% of energy-related carbon emissions. Buildings therefore must be a foundational piece of any government or businesses climate action plan.
A radical reduction of the built environment’s emissions footprint is possible. The technologies to make the structures we inhabit decarbonised and resilient throughout their life cycles are now mature and proven – from energy and heat recovery systems to sustainable building materials and smart energy-management technology.
From across our network of Green Building Councils (GBCs) and partners, we’re seeing an increase in the pace of change, with plenty of examples of exceptional green building projects and renovations around the world. And there is no fundamental reason why we cannot replicate this success everywhere – if we can create the right regulatory environments, the right finance architecture, and the right cultural and policy frameworks.
2024 is set to be the first year to breach the 1.5°C warming limit. In the past 12 months, we have seen encouraging signs of political leadership for action on the built environment with two multinational cooperation agreements – the Buildings Breakthrough and the Declaration de Chaillot – signalling that global policy circles have begun to wake up to this reality.
This political leadership can enable us to reach a tipping point to deliver policy change that is actionable, implementable and delivers real economic change. This is important because over 110 countries currently have no building energy performance codes of any kind – including most of the places expecting large population growth in the coming years. Only 26% of countries have mandatory energy codes, and only three nations anywhere have building codes compatible with Zero Energy Building principles. And out of the 195 nations that have submitted climate plans to the UN, only 19 contain any level of detail on the building sector such as specific emissions targets or financing.
So whilst it is positive that industry and countries are stepping up, as always, there is more to do and we need to move faster. At a time when the world is building the equivalent of a new Paris in area every week, any delay is risky.
So, it’s time to be bold on buildings.
The good news is that right now, countries have an opportunity to set themselves up for a breakthrough for the built environment. This timing is important because COP29 marks the midpoint in the troika of three Presidencies that will conclude at COP30 in Brazil.
A key focus of these Presidencies is the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) which countries are required to update by February 2025. These are rolling ten-year climate plans which must be periodically updated and made more ambitious under the ratcheting system as the heart of the Paris agreement.
Countries must view this as a milestone for setting out how bold targets will actually be achieved in each sector. An effective NDC for the built environment, for example, should be investible, supported by financing strategies and credible national policy. It should be specific, spelling out tangible, immediate actions. And it should be tailored to regional conditions, the nature of the local building stock, and the ability of a country’s construction industry to deliver.
As countries develop NDCs and associated roadmaps and policies for buildings, they must also think holistically, addressing resilience, efficient resource usage, waste, circularity, biodiversity and regeneration. As important as mitigating emissions in some places is the ability of buildings to help cities adapt to increasingly extreme weather events like storms and floods, and manage shortages of water or fluctuations in heat and cold.
Delivering a strong, holistic, policy-backed NDC that kick starts a wave of green building progress will require deep collaboration and an understanding of the unique and interdependent nature of our sector. No single proven pathway will work for everyone. Each country must conduct its own process to ensure that the building and construction industry, financial actors and regulators are all advancing with a shared, practical agenda and mutual understanding.
But neither should countries feel alone in developing their plans. The organisation I lead, the World Green Building Council, brings together over 75 national Green Building Councils (GBCs) along with thousands of organisations, global, regional and national, from up and down the building value chain.
We are using this convening power to develop the NDC Scorecard for Sustainable Buildings. The WorldGBC NDC Scorecard tool will outline best in class policies and allow all policymakers, GBCs and others to assess and compare their countries’ NDCs, and reveal where further action is necessary on the built environment to increase the ambition and effectiveness of their climate action plans and national policies.
Over the next few weeks and months, as countries finalise their plans, national Green Building Councils will be working intensely to mobilise the private sector and bring greater confidence to key government teams. The goal is to identify where a jurisdiction might be falling short of ambition – and identify the steps that can be taken now and that are needed to do more. (If you’re in government, I encourage you to reach out to your local GBC.)
The actions that we – both governments and industry – take over the next 12 months will determine whether we are able to reach the tipping point needed to get our sector on track to close the climate gap. We have outlined the key positions on sustainable building policies that would yield a successful outcome for COP29 from a building perspective. So that when COP30 begins in 2025 and world leaders arrive in Belém, Brazil, the outlook will be different than today.
And it’s not just governments. As our network of 48,000 private sector members is showing, including businesses who have committed to our Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment, the industry also has a central role to play. So I ask others to join us in sending a message that the industry supports greater ambition for buildings. Advocate for NDCs to be 1.5°C aligned, with clear, sector-specific policies for the built environment. Give the signals of confidence that will lead to long-term economic investment.
Of course, no matter how well laid the plans, they are only effective if they are implemented. And that is what gives me confidence because the global-regional network of Green Building Councils enables us to match ambition with local action so that we are truly transforming the built environment and delivering a better future for all.
