Buildings are currently responsible for 39 % of global energy-related carbon emissions: 28 % from operational emissions – from energy needed to heat, cool and power them – and the remaining 11 % from materials and construction. Towards the middle of the century, as the world’s population approaches 10 billion, the global building stock is expected to double in size. Carbon emissions released before the built asset is used, what is referred to as ‘upfront carbon’ will be responsible for half of the entire carbon footprint of new construction between now and 2050, threatening to consume a large part of our remaining carbon budget.
 

Therefore, the built environment sector has a vital role to play in responding to the climate emergency, and addressing upfront carbon is a critical and urgent focus. In ‘Bringing Embodied Carbon Upfront: Coordinated action for the building and construction sector to tackle embodied carbon,’ WorldGBC has issued a bold new vision that:
 

• by 2030, all new buildings, infrastructure and renovations will have at least 40 % less embodied carbon with significant upfront carbon reduction, and all new buildings are net-zero operational carbon.
• by 2050, new buildings, infrastructure and renovations will have net-zero embodied carbon, and all buildings including existing buildings must be net-zero operational carbon.

The report is critical in creating a conversation around the value and importance of embodied carbon, with the aim of creating and stimulating market demand for transparency, improvements and verification of embodied carbon reductions.

The report describes barriers and opportunities, and outlines the areas where improvement must be made, such as awareness and demand, skills and capacities, policy and regulation, technical considerations and finance. After identifying these barriers and opportunities, the report provides goals and recommendations for all stakeholders involved. Some of the recommended goals for cities include developing a strategy to achieve net-zero embodied carbon, adopting a set of embodied carbon reduction targets with a clear trajectory towards net-zero, and implementing policies that set progressive embodied carbon reduction targets and specify when net-zero embodied carbon becomes mandatory. All the recommendations have key actions that will help enforce them and indicators to measure the city's progress. The paper also provides examples of strategies and actions that are already implemented. As a result, cities and regions can become more aware of the sector’s impact on the climate and how a circular economy can help cities and regions to become carbon neutral. In addition, cities and regions can draw inspiration from the recommended actions and are provided with examples when designing a Circular Systemic Solution with the focus on built environment.