🥵 Ever feel less productive on scorching hot days? You're not imagining it.
New UN data shows that worker productivity falls by 2-3% for every degree above 20°C.
The findings draw on five decades of research, highlighting how the health and productivity of people are severely impacted by our heating planet.
As climate change drives temperatures above 40°C and even 50°C in some places, this reality is expanding rapidly worldwide. Around half the global population is already affected by heat stress, raising the risk of heatstroke, dehydration, kidney dysfunction, and neurological disorders.
Protecting people from heat stress isn't optional. It's essential for ensuring billions of people can continue to thrive as our planet warms.
Is heat affecting your productivity? Tell us in the comments 👇
Funding imbalances remain acute. Only a fraction of climate finance supports environmental sustainability in construction and resilient infrastructure, leaving gaps in life cycle cost modelling and resource efficiency in construction. Addressing this shortfall is critical to accelerating carbon footprint reduction and life cycle thinking in construction that ensures buildings can adapt to climatic extremes while achieving carbon neutral construction.
Government proposals linking climate, biodiversity and land use through unified policy instruments indicate an evolution toward circular construction strategies and eco-design for buildings that integrate sustainable material specification and environmental product declarations (EPDs). These measures align with BREEAM and the forthcoming BREEAM v7 standards, reinforcing quantitative accountability in green construction and sustainable building practices.
In the United Kingdom, scrutiny from Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee challenges the misconception that regulation limits housing delivery. Its evidence underscores that low carbon design and green infrastructure are enablers of innovation, not barriers. It signals a policy turning point toward sustainable urban development and eco-friendly construction anchored in end-of-life reuse in construction and building lifecycle performance metrics.
The trajectory is apparent: whole life carbon accounting, embodied carbon in materials tracking and circular economy integration are reshaping global market expectations. Sustainable design decisions are becoming quantifiable obligations, ensuring every low carbon building advances environmental sustainability in construction and measurable carbon footprint of construction reductions consistent with decarbonising the built environment.
Whole Life Carbon is a platform for the entire construction industry—both in the UK and internationally. We track the latest publications, debates, and events related to whole life guidance and sustainability. If you have any enquiries or opinions to share, please do
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