This is an official side-event of the 12th World Urban Forum.

Description

The event, organized by the Ministry of Housing and Public Works of Bangladesh in partnership with UN-Habitat, UNEP, UNOPS, GlobalABC Materials Hub, GlobalABC Circular Built Environment (CBE) group, will emphasize on the critical role that cities play in decarbonize the built environment. 
More than half of the world's population resides in urban areas. However, projections indicate that this number will increase to nearly 70% by 2050, resulting in an additional 2.5 billion individuals living in cities. To accommodate the expanding population and bridge the housing and infrastructure gap without increasing the environmental burden of the buildings and construction sector, it is necessary to construct new buildings differently or repurpose existing ones. 

The objectives of the session are:

1. Create awareness of the importance and the role of cities and national-level decisions on circularity in decarbonizing the built environment objectives by 2025, 2030, and 2050.  
2. Provide a forum for information exchange on roadmaps and action to decarbonize the buildings and construction sector across short-, medium-, and long-term considerations.  
3. Align stakeholders to work towards a shared vision to achieve zero-emission, efficient, resilient buildings and construction. 
4. Discuss next steps towards implementation of roadmaps and the role of cities in implementing them  
5. Launch the assessment framework at the national level for the circularity of buildings and its piloting in Bangladesh and Senegal while sharing the lessons learned.  
6. Present the work undertaken by the Materials Hub (managed by GlobalABC, OPN, and Life Cycle Initiative) and its Circular Built Environment working group (led by MoE Finland and RMIT University) through the 10 Whole Life Cycle Recommendations for the Buildings Breakthrough and a related case study platform.  

Agenda

Welcome & Introduction

• Md. Mahmud Ali, Director  (Additional Secretary), Urban Development Department, Ministry of Housing and Public Works, Government of the Republic of Bangladesh
   

Section I: Partnerships for Global and Local Action

Presentation: Circular Built Environment: Why is it crucial to decarbonize the building sector and how can we utilise circularity approaches?

• Emma Lappalainen, CEO, Finngroup Consultants 

`Case study on the social impact of circularity in the built environment`

• Jennifer Oomen, Habitat for Humanity International

Announcement of the “National Circularity Assessment Framework for Buildings” 

• Erin Sullivan Ansell, UNOPS

Panel Discussion: Leveraging partnerships at Global and Local level under one vision: zero-emission, efficient, and resilient buildings and construction sectors

• Moderator: Emma Lappalainen, CEO, Finngroup Consultants
• Gulnara Roll, UNEP
• Michael Rapage, CT Labs  
• Roxana Slavcheva, WRI
   

Section II: Achieving National and Local Climate Objectives through buildings and construction decarbonization roadmaps

Panel Discussion: The republic of Bangladesh, Ghana and Senegal have just launched their Climate Action Roadmaps for Buildings and Construction

• Moderator: Gulnara Roll, UNEP
• Naila Ahamed Noor, Ministry of Housing and Public Works of Bangladesh
• Chris Pobee Abbey, Ministry of Works and Housing of Ghana
• Moustapha Diop, Ministry of Urban Planning, Local Authorities and Territorial Planning
   

Call to action and closing

• Sebastian Herold, Senior Policy Officer, BMZ