On a slice of the ocean front in west Singapore, a startup is building a plant to turn carbon dioxide from air and seawater into the same material as seashells, in a process that will also produce “green” hydrogen — a much-hyped clean fuel.
The idea is that the plant will pull water from the ocean, zap it with an electric current and run air through it to produce a series of chemical reactions to trap and store carbon dioxide as minerals, which can be put back in the sea or used on land.
This Singapore plant is one example of a slew of recent projects that are looking to the oceans, which already absorb almost 30% of humanity’s planet-heating pollution, as a tool to do this.
But carbon-removal projects are controversial, criticized for being expensive, unproven at scale and a distraction from policies to cut fossil fuels. And when they involve the oceans — complex ecosystems already under huge strain from global warming — criticisms can get even louder.
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📸: Equatic
Global attention on COP30 has intensified pressure on the built environment to achieve measurable decarbonisation, signalling a pivotal shift in sustainable construction finance and policy. Institutional investors managing over $145 trillion are now embedding climate transition plans into risk frameworks, reinforcing that access to capital depends on credible whole life carbon assessment and verifiable reduction of embodied carbon in materials. This reflects a growing expectation that sustainable building design demonstrate alignment with net zero carbon buildings and transparent reporting of the carbon footprint of construction. Projects unable to substantiate low carbon design and life cycle cost efficiency will struggle to attract financing, accelerating the adoption of sustainable building practices across all project stages.
Scrutiny of carbon markets is reshaping global decarbonisation strategies. Civil society concerns over weakening Article 6 of the Paris Agreement have amplified criticism of offsetting mechanisms that obscure whole life carbon accountability. Developers and contractors are shifting from international credits to verifiable local offsetting, strengthening integrity in carbon neutral construction and decarbonising the built environment. This reflects a systemic preference for genuine emissions cuts rather than transactional compliance, aligning with environmental sustainability in construction and broader net zero whole life carbon objectives.
Instability in recycling markets exposes structural weaknesses that undermine the circular economy in construction. Supply chain failures in European plastics recycling highlight the need for regulatory clarity and scalable circular construction strategies enabling material recovery, end-of-life reuse in construction, and effective resource efficiency in construction. Without robust infrastructure and digital traceability, ambitions for eco-design for buildings and the reuse of renewable building materials remain constrained.
Digitalisation has emerged as both enabler and challenge. The unveiling of the Green Digital Action Hub at COP30 underscores the rising environmental cost of high-performance computing. As energy-efficient buildings increasingly rely on digital twins, AI optimisation and dynamic modelling, the sector must align such innovation with life cycle thinking in construction and rigorous lifecycle assessment to ensure that technological efficiency complements green construction principles.
These dynamics illustrate that market forces, regulation and technology are converging to promote sustainable construction grounded in environmental product declarations (EPDs), sustainable material specification and building lifecycle performance. Stakeholders face a clear mandate to embed low embodied carbon materials, green building products and eco-friendly construction systems within every project lifecycle. The momentum is shifting from superficial sustainability claims toward measurable transformation of the built environment, where performance is verified through BREEAM v7 standards, circular economy metrics and scientifically robust whole life carbon outcomes.
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