The buildings and construction sector plays a key role in achieving social, environmental, and economic goals. To urgently bring about the significant changes required in the sector to achieve climate goals, all stakeholders require access to updated knowledge to ensure that they can easily make choices that are aligned with the goals.
To achieve this aim, this report summarizes the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report of Working Group (WG) III’s contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), 'Mitigation of Climate Change', Chapter 9 'Buildings'.
The chapter shows that global CO2 emissions from buildings increased by 50% from 1990 to 2019. By retrofitting existing buildings and using efficient techniques to reduce climate impact in new construction, it is possible to approach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Actions by 2030 are crucial to fully capture the potential for reduced climate impact from buildings.
The transition of the building sector requires strong collaboration with many other sectors, as it is closely linked to sectors such as the energy sector, land use, resource utilization, and waste management. This requires ambitious policy packages, such as the use of renewable energy sources, as well as efficient design and use of space, energy, materials, and appliances.
2022.