Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction 2024/2025

United Nations 10 months ago

The Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction (Buildings-GSR), published by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC), provides an annual snapshot of the progress of the buildings and construction sector on a global scale. The Buildings-GSR reviews the status of policies, finance, technologies and solutions to monitor whether the sector is aligned with the Paris Agreement goals. The Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction 2024-2025 - Not just another brick in the wall highlights progress made on related global climate goals and calls for greater ambition on six challenges, including building energy codes, renewable energy, and financing. Global frameworks and initiatives such as Intergovernmental Council for Buildings and Climate, the Buildings Breakthrough and the Declaration de Chaillot are sustaining momentum towards adopting ambitious climate action plans, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), for net-zero buildings ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belem, Brazil. Despite this progress, the sector remains a key driver of the climate crisis, consuming 32 per cent of global energy and contributing to 34 per cent of global CO2 emissions. The sector is dependent on materials like cement and steel that are responsible for 18% of global emissions and are a major source of construction waste.
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layersDaily Sustainability Digest

Published about 40 minutes ago



Global energy policy uncertainty is testing the resilience of sustainable construction, but the momentum for low‑carbon building remains clear. Reduced US funding for international renewable agencies will narrow some channels of early‑stage technical support, intensifying scrutiny on every project’s whole life carbon profile and life cycle cost performance. Investors and developers are focusing on sustainable building design that evidences real data through lifecycle assessment and whole life carbon assessment rather than narrative claims.

Across the sector, automation and industrialised delivery are changing skill demands. Factory fabrication and digital commissioning highlight a shift toward smarter, resource‑efficient construction systems aligned with environmental sustainability in construction targets. The circular economy in construction is gaining relevance as firms explore low embodied carbon materials, renewable building materials and end‑of‑life reuse in construction to minimise the overall carbon footprint of construction.

The launch of a major retailer’s highly energy‑efficient distribution centre in South West England illustrates practical decarbonising of logistics real estate. Integrating on‑site generation, electrified fleets and grid‑aware systems demonstrates sustainable building practices that actively reduce embodied carbon in materials and support net zero carbon buildings. These data‑driven facilities embody eco‑design for buildings and sustainable material specification that prove measurable carbon footprint reduction while improving building lifecycle performance.

Market dynamics are rewarding operational emissions cuts today. As cost of capital fluctuates, demand is growing for developers who can deliver whole life carbon neutrality through circular construction strategies, BREEAM and BREEAM V7 certification, and low carbon design excellence. Firms embracing sustainable design, green construction and carbon neutral construction methods are best placed to shape a built environment advancing towards net zero whole life carbon resilience.

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