“Buildings Breakthrough” launched at COP28 – decarbonising the built environment

With over 40% of carbon emissions coming from the built environment, countries from all over the world have come together to join the “Buildings Breakthrough” initiative, which was officially launched at COP28 on 6 December. As an official observer, RICS CEO Justin Young was present to pledge our support to this important initiative.

Representing one-third of the world’s population and two-thirds of the world’s GDP, the 28 countries that have joined this initiative include China, the United States, Canada, the UK, France, The Netherlands, Germany, Kenya and Morocco. They have committed to work together to ensure that “near-zero emission and resilient buildings become the new normal by 2030”.

To advance this commitment, France is hosting a high-level ministerial meeting on 7 and 8 March 2024, where next to the Buildings Breakthrough countries, ministers from other countries will be invited as well to work towards a declaration and a set of actions aimed at decarbonising the built environment. RICS has been invited to attend these meetings and we look forward to playing our role in cooperation with other global organisations such as the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC).

Following the Buildings Breakthrough launch, RICS participated in a workshop by the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC), a platform hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme that leads the Buildings Breakthrough initiative. During this session, the participants identified and discussed five priority actions crucial for decarbonisation:

1. Standards & certification
2. Demand creation
3. Finance & investment
4. Research & development
5. Capacity & skills

RICS is part of the discussion, and we are focussing on two actions specifically.

First, standards and certification, where with our recently launched 2^nd edition of Whole Life Carbon Accounting Standard we offer a ready-to-use solution to measure both embodied and operational carbon in new buildings and retrofits in a consistent and transparent way across the buildings lifecycle.

Second, the need for capacity & skills, where through our experience and those of our members around competency, knowledge and training. Our goal is to ensure that professionals in the built environment are well-equipped to tackle the challenges facing the sector.

Following COP28 and the Buildings Breakthrough launch, RICS will continue to work together with the governments of the initiative and other key international organisations to pave the way for decarbonisation and support our members who work throughout the built environment lifecycle to deliver on the commitments made.

More information: Sander Scheurwater – sscheurwater@rics.org and Tim Smith – tsmith@rics.org