AHEAD OF THE G7 MINISTERS’ MEETING on Climate, Energy and Environment taking place 15–16 April 2023, the World Green Building Council has released a set of building policy principles.

The principles are aimed at guiding national governments to develop effective building policies and programmes to accelerate a decarbonised future.

The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report tells us there is a rapidly closing window to stay within the 1.5°C global warming limit.

Many of the priority topics for the upcoming G7 ministers meeting can be addressed by buildings, such as energy security, net zero, and circular economies.

Worldwide, buildings are responsible for 37% of energy related carbon emissions and 34% of energy demand. It means policymakers must recognise the built environment as a key agent of change to close the 1.5°C gap.

Delivering the Paris Agreement

The World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) has launched the ‘Global Policy Principles for a Sustainable Built Environment’, to support policymakers to adopt a holistic approach to built environment sustainability. It aims to ensure policies and legislation deliver the action needed to reach the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals.

Seven Focus Areas

The principles are structured around seven focus areas: carbon, resilience, circularity, water, biodiversity, health, equity and access. They are supported by detailed policy levers to show how they can be implemented through regulation, information and incentives.

The most recent IPCC report shows that current government policies will see warming exceed 1.5°C during the 21st century – causing irreversible harm to the environment and people.

Despite being the largest contributing sector to carbon emissions, the building and construction industry is still not on track to achieve total decarbonisation by 2050 (Source GlobalABC Status Report 2022). It means the gap between actual climate performance of the sector and its pathway to decarbonisation is widening.

This creates a dual challenge for the built environment — with markets in Asia and Africa expecting their building stock to double by mid-century. Meanwhile other regions are grappling with the challenges of renovating energy inefficient buildings.

Cristina Gamboa, CEO of WorldGBC, said: “Our sector is in a strong position to deliver resilient development that integrates mitigation and adaptation measures, whilst also addressing other pressing societal issues, including energy security, resilience, health and equity.

“In this Global Stocktake of the Paris Agreement year, and ahead of countries submitting updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in 2024, it is crucial that political leaders take bold actions to strengthen and implement building policies that deliver transformative change.”

Decarbonising Priority

By delivering these principles, governments will be sending a clear signal that decarbonised built environments are a priority, therefore enabling industry to deliver more innovative solutions, the WorldGBC says. But governments must take a holistic approach, embracing public funding and influencing financial investment decisions and tools that consider carbon mitigation, resilience and green buildings, they add.

WorldGBC and its Green Building Council network invites governments to use these Global Policy Principles for a Sustainable Built Environment as a tool to review and update existing legislation.

It is hoped governments will offer their support locally and globally to ensure national policies that integrate mitigation and adaptation measures, whilst also addressing energy security, resilience, and health.

 

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