Constructing or retrofitting buildings to be energy efficient is increasingly seen by world leaders and intergovernmental organisations as the most immediate and cost-effective decarbonisation lever. A recent UN report highlights that the sector has the potential to cut 11% of global emissions by 2035 — equivalent to taking one billion cars off the road for a year.
A recent UN report highlights that the sector has the potential to cut 11% of global emissions by 2035 — equivalent to taking one billion cars off the road for a year.
As such, building regulations have become a critical driver of decarbonisation, with countries across the globe introducing regulations that target both operational and embodied carbon (associated with construction and transportation). However, despite this progress, according to a 2024 IEA report over 50% of new global construction is not covered by building codes.
National climate action plans often fail to adequately support the implementation of these regulations. Under the Paris Agreement, each country submits Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) — or national climate action plans — to outline their strategy to reduce greenhouse gases. While the vast majority (84%) of NDCs reference the buildings sector, less than 10% provide any in-depth detail on buildings, and only a small majority (54%) mention energy efficiency in buildings at all.
We believe governments should integrate the buildings sector into NDCs. This can be supported by tools such as our NDC Scorecard for Sustainable Buildings. This digital tool that helps governments and wider stakeholders to identify best practice policy measures that should be contained within a country’s climate action plan and their national policy framework.
Current NDC commitments leave us well short of the goal to keep global warming close to 1.5ºC. Being bold on buildings offer us the opportunity to get much closer to that goal, but only if they do not remain a blind spot in our climate response.
