Harmful bleaching of the world's coral has grown to include 84% of the ocean's reefs in the most intense event of its kind in recorded history, the International Coral Reef Initiative announced Wednesday.
It's the fourth global bleaching event since 1998, and has now surpassed bleaching from 2014-17 that hit some two-thirds of reefs, said the ICRI, a mix of more than 100 governments, non-governmental organizations and others. And it's not clear when the current crisis, which began in 2023 and is blamed on warming oceans, will end.
"We may never see the heat stress that causes bleaching dropping below the threshold that triggers a global event," said Mark Eakin, corresponding secretary for the International Coral Reef Society and retired coral monitoring chief for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"We're looking at something that's completely changing the face of our planet and the ability of our oceans to sustain lives and livelihoods," Eakin said.
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📸: LM Otero/AP/File
The construction sector’s transition toward net zero whole life carbon is accelerating through large-scale adoption of circular economy in construction models and data-driven sustainable design. Companies such as Holcim are embedding whole life carbon assessment and lifecycle assessment principles across their NextGen facilities, demonstrating how renewable building materials and low carbon construction materials can anchor sustainable building design. These closed-loop operations showcase genuine eco-design for buildings where embodied carbon in materials is tracked and reused, aligning economic value with environmental sustainability in construction.
At the research frontier, innovative resource efficiency in construction is turning waste into supply-chain assets. Converting demolished or landfilled materials into inputs for clean technologies reflects advanced circular construction strategies that limit the carbon footprint of construction and support low carbon design. This shift promotes a measurable reduction in embodied carbon while strengthening sustainable building practices that improve building lifecycle performance and overall sustainability metrics.
Policy action remains vital in decarbonising the built environment. European initiatives on electrification and renewable power illustrate a cohesive approach to whole life carbon and life cycle cost integration. Yet disparities persist as emerging economies struggle to meet the standards of low carbon building development. Consistent environmental product declarations (EPDs) and sustainable material specification frameworks are critical to ensure carbon footprint reduction and to guide the sector toward carbon neutral construction benchmarks.
Technological advances are reshaping the building process itself. Automation, digital fabrication, and intelligent robotics are enhancing safety and efficiency within sustainable construction while enabling life cycle thinking in construction projects. The combination of digital precision and embodied carbon awareness is pushing the industry toward low-impact construction, better green construction outcomes, and resilient net zero carbon buildings. The global direction is evident: mastery of circular economy principles and low carbon building design now defines competitiveness and credibility in eco-friendly construction and green building materials.
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