Transforming the built environment for decarbonization and resilience
This year’s United Nations Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (ABC) annual assembly explored the progress, challenges and solutions to achieving a zero-emission, efficient and resilient buildings and construction sector. AECOM Global Portfolio Decarbonization Lead, Marc Colella summarizes the discussions and shares his insights.
The Global ABC program plays a crucial role in reshaping the future of our built environment. Their mission is clear: to create a resilient, decarbonized built environment to improve people’s lives, and to represent this critical sector at future COP summits.
This year’s discussions zeroed in on a core truth: we cannot meet climate goals without transforming the buildings sector — and we must do so in a way that prioritizes both decarbonization and climate resilience equally. Buildings are responsible for nearly 37 percent of global CO₂ emissions, and with half the 2050 global building stock yet to be constructed, the stakes and opportunities are enormous.
Beyond emissions, the transformation of our built environment must also maximize social value by enhancing affordability, health and inclusion. Circularity and the principles of near-zero emission and resilient buildings must be embedded throughout the entire construction value chain, from pre-tender design decisions through procurement and post-construction operations, ensuring a comprehensive, lasting impact.
Key challenges in decarbonizing the global built environment
Launched at COP28 in Dubai in 2023, the Buildings Breakthrough initiative aims to make near-zero emission and climate-resilient buildings the global standard by 2030. It offers a shared policy and technical framework to guide national action across five priority areas: standards, demand creation, finance, research and skills development.
While this provides much needed direction, there are six significant barriers to meaningful progress:
1. Policy gaps and inconsistent frameworks
Although 136 countries reference buildings in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), most lack concrete policies or actions targeting the buildings and construction sector. Approaches and ambition levels vary widely, making global coordination difficult. The absence of harmonized definitions and overarching frameworks further complicates efforts to align and measure progress.
2. Support for developing and emerging economies
Under-developed and emerging nations need greater support in developing and implementing effective roadmaps, policy tools and regulations. However, challenges such as capacity building, knowledge sharing, and access to finance are not limited to these regions — they are systemic issues that must be addressed across the global program to ensure equitable and inclusive progress.
3. Financing barriers
Mobilizing finance continues to be a major hurdle. Key challenges include the need for innovative financial instruments, risk mitigation strategies, and the mobilization of private sector investment to support large-scale decarbonization projects.
4. Slow renovation and delivery risks
The rate of building renovation remains far too slow to meet climate targets. Retrofits are often seen as risky due to cost uncertainty, performance variability, and supply chain limitations. Extending the life of existing buildings is essential but requires clearer strategies and market mechanisms to accelerate delivery.
5. Embodied carbon and materials
With roughly half of the 2050 building stock yet to be constructed, addressing embodied carbon is increasingly urgent. Circularity, material reuse, new technologies and lifecycle emissions must be prioritized from the earliest planning stages.
6. Supply chain complexity
Delivering low-carbon goals depends on coordinated action across fragmented supply chains. Collaboration between manufacturers, contractors, designers and policymakers is critical to scale solutions effectively.
While global frameworks like the Buildings Breakthrough provide much-needed alignment and momentum, addressing these persistent, on-the-ground challenges is essential to deliver a built environment that is truly zero-emission, resilient and inclusive.
Accelerating action for a resilient built environment
To meet global climate goals, urgent action is needed across the lifecycle of buildings — from design and construction to operations and materials. While roadmaps have been created by the Global ABC to establish a common approach across planning, building design, operations, systems, materials, resilience and clean energy, implementation remains fragmented.
Two-thirds of countries currently lack voluntary minimum energy performance codes. The goal is for most new buildings to achieve whole-life net-zero carbon emissions.
The key actions these countries should look to take include:
- Developing national roadmaps and mandatory building codes.
- Reducing reliance on mechanical space conditioning.
- Cutting embodied carbon.
- Increasing public awareness and transparency.
- Governments leading by example, especially by implementing policy for public buildings.
Driving decarbonization across building operations and materials
Few buildings currently use tools for energy performance management. To reach operational net-zero, the sector must adopt rating tools, energy audits, smart controls and building passports. These technologies offer practical pathways to improving efficiency and reducing emissions at scale.
Addressing the embodied carbon from building materials is crucial, as it remains a major emissions source often overlooked. Priorities include data collection, integrating embodied carbon into regulations, supporting reuse and circular models, stimulating demand for low-carbon products, and accelerating R&D in manufacturing decarbonization. Although methodologies for net-zero buildings exist, their widespread implementation is lacking due to inconsistent incentives and global inconsistency. The sector must embrace whole-life carbon principles through harmonized accounting, open data, and standardized targets. Industry-led carbon pricing and transition risk assessments are vital for valuing the cost of inaction.
By aligning operational tools, material innovation and financial strategies, the building sector can achieve global decarbonization and resilience, impacting both existing and future building stock.
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