As cities and infrastructure evolves, the Built Environment sector’s commitment to sustainability becomes paramount. This month, we delve deeper into the strides, hurdles, and milestones of the Built Environment’s Race to Zero.

The Built Environment team continues to track Race to Zero joiners, focusing on ‘major’ businesses across four pivotal sectoral stakeholder groups:

• Architects/Engineers: 48 percent of major entities by revenue
• Construction Companies: 19 percent of major firms by revenue
• Real Estate Investment Companies: 19 percent of significant players by revenue
• Real Estate Asset Managers: 34 percent of major companies by revenue

New members

Race to Zero has welcomed a surge of new members this month. Notable inclusions are Grimshaw, a UK-based architecture company, and Equinix, Inc., a US real estate giant. Other significant joiners include EPP N.V. from the Netherlands, First Capital REIT from Canada, Esh Group and Morrison Hershfield Group Inc. from the UK, Gopalan Enterprises (India) Pvt. Ltd., Give Steel A/S from Denmark, and SOHO China Limited.

Reflecting on the Global Stocktake

A key highlight this month for us was a thought leadership piece we authored for the BuildingToCOP coalition. The article underscores the crucial messages of the Global Stocktake (GST) to Non-Party Stakeholders in the sector. Among the messages in the GST were buildings and cities remain critical to mitigation and climate-resilience efforts both directly and as an enabler for the energy transition:

“The share of emissions from cities is estimated to be 67–72 percent of global emissions…”

“Ambitious implementation of measures to address GHG emissions from… buildings… can reduce emissions… while reducing costs and delivering co-benefits.”

“Mitigation measures by non-Party stakeholders will be an important factor for success in achieving the Paris Agreement goals.”

Key report

Another significant achievement was the launch of the 2023 Breakthrough Agenda Report, especially the inclusion of the ‘Buildings Chapter’, which the Built Environment Climate Champions team co-authored. This chapter will be instrumental in shaping the collaboration priorities for the upcoming Buildings Breakthrough initiative, set to launch at COP28.

Events

September was a busy month, leading into October which sees both MENA and LAC Climate Weeks take place.

• 11 September: FIDIC’s Global Infrastructure Conference with a keynote by Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin.
• 12 September: World Green Building Week featuring H.E. Razan Al Mubarak.
• 14 September: BuildingtoCOP Forum with a presentation by Built Environment Lead for the Climate Champions Team, Will Wild.
• 27 September: Emirates Net Zero Forum with Alida Saleh, Senior Advisor, Built Environment, Climate Champions team participating in panel discussion.

Anticipated events for MENA Climate Week include:

• GlobalABC Track Event: Forging Pathways for Building Decarbonisation and Resilience in MENA, Pre-recorded Opening Address by H.E. Razan Al Mubarak, High-Level Climate Champion for COP28,
• GlobalABC Track Event: Forging Pathways for Building Decarbonisation and Resilience in MENA, Alida Saleh, Senior Advisor, Built Environment, Climate Champions team participating in a panel discussion
• UAE Blueprint Side Event: Alida Saleh, Senior Advisor, Built Environment, Climate Champions team delivering an opening speech and participating in a panel discussion
• Building Net Zero Carbon Cities: Paving the Way to Sustainable Urban Development in MENA, Alida Saleh, Senior Advisor, Built Environment, Climate Champions team participating in a panel discussion

Read more about MENA Climate week here

Find out more about the Built Environment at COP28

For latest intel on how the sector will show up at COP, all are welcome to join the BuildingToCOP 28 Forum event on 12 October. Spearheaded by BuildingToCOP, these forums are designed to spotlight the Built Environment sector’s opportunities and key moments as we approach COP28.

Register to join the forum here

Discover the Built Environment 2030 Breakthroughs