Geneva, 17 February – The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and nine other organizations have been invited to join forces with the UK presidency to organize a dedicated 'Built Environment and Cities Day’ at COP26 in November this year. This follows the signing of a letter to COP26 President, Alok Sharma, calling for a Built Environment Day at the climate summit. This day will bring together diverse stakeholders from the buildings and construction sector, present concrete pathways to net zero and highlight opportunities for a green recovery.
In the joint letter, signed in November 2020, WBCSD together with C40 Cities, Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction, Green Building Council Italia, Mission 2020, The Climate Group, We Mean Business, World Green Building Council, World Resources Institute and UK Green Building Council, urged the COP26 organizers to recognize the key role of the buildings and construction sector for meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement. In the coming months, these organizations will be working closely with the UN Climate Change Conference President-Designate, High-Level Climate Champions and a group of partners to give the built environment a platform for showcasing the many areas where the sector could help to mitigate climate change.
Roland Hunziker, Director Sustainable Buildings & Cities at WBCSD said: “The Built Environment is responsible for almost 40% of global emissions. It is a great opportunity to place this important sector at the core of discussions at COP26. It is a very fragmented sector and hence we need to focus on how all actors along the value chain can work together to reduce emissions from buildings over their full life cycle, towards the common goal of a net-zero built environment.”
WBCSD will bring the voice of global business to the important discussions in the run-up to COP26 and we will help foster alignment on what a “net-zero” built environment means and what transformative actions are needed to achieve this.
For more information, please contact Julia Mitic.
