GlobalABC documents

After two years of disruption due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the year 2022 saw a gradual return to normalcy, combined with an increase in GlobalABC's activities, visibility, and outreach. The GlobalABC community has achieved several milestones in 2022, laying the foundational work for the coming years. The urgency of climate action in the buildings and construction sector has received heightened attention in major fora, national and sub-national actors and private sector are stepping up their action, and the GlobalABC is recognised as the international platform that gathers the multitude of buildings and construction stakeholders. 

In 2022, we continued to be a global advocate for the importance of the sector for global climate action (active participation in high-level events such as the COP27 with a Buildings Pavilion and through the BuildingToCOP Coalition, growth in membership, Annual Assembly and Steering Committee meeting); to provide a neutral and trusted platform to set targets for decarbonisation (2022 Buildings-GSR, UNFCCC MPGCA Human Settlements Pathway, flagship study and campaign on embodied carbon, Sustainable Building Materials Hub); and to provide the key measures for countries to adopt, helping them set priorities in their own strategies, based on their situation (Buildings Breakthrough target, roadmaps launched and Roadmaps Coordination Hub, NDC frontrunner criteria and tool), among so many other achievements.

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The GlobalABC was founded as an umbrella or meta-platform – a network of networks – that brings together initiatives and actors along the entire buildings and construction sector value chain at COP21 in 2015 by a group of governments, businesses, intergovernmental, and non-profit organizations, at the initiative of the French government and UNEP. In the nearly six years since its launch, GlobalABC has created and continues to maintain a neutral, member-driven platform, growing from an initial 79 members to over 200 members, among which 34 countries. Its mission and vision are to connect governments, the private sector, and organisations to drive the transformation towards a zero-emission, efficient, and resilient buildings and construction sector to achieve a future-proof world for all buildings – both existing and new. GlobalABC members exchange knowledge, discuss challenges, and collaborate on tools and solutions for rapid decarbonisation of the built environment. In doing so, GlobalABC advocates for, helps develop and implement pathways, policies, strategies and initiatives for reducing climate impacts across the buildings and construction sector. It hereby focuses on both climate mitigation and adaption in support of a net-zero carbon, energy efficient and resilient sector.

Download the 5-year review to look back at the achievements of the GlobalABC and its community since its creation at COP21, and discover how the GlobalABC has succeeded in mobilizing all actors in the sector to raise the profile of buildings for climate action internationally, regionally and locally, to keep track of the progress in decarbonizing the sector and to support countries in transforming their policies through buildings and construction roadmaps. 

As the global pandemic continues to affect the ways we live and work in 2021, the GlobalABC maintained most of its activities in online format, with the exception of COP26, where events were held both in-person and online. This has been a year of great growth of GlobalABC in terms of range of activities, membership and visibility, made possible by engagement of our members and partners in advancing the central role of buildings in climate action. This is reflected in the MPGCA Human Settlements Pathway, where the GlobalABC has led the Built Environment track, and that provides a north star for the sector:

• By 2030, the built environment should halve its emissions, whereby 100 per cent of new buildings must be net-zero carbon in operation, with widespread energy efficiency retrofit of existing assets well underway, and embodied carbon must be reduced by at least 40 per cent, with leading projects achieving at least 50 per cent reductions in embodied carbon.
• By 2050, at the latest, all new and existing assets must be net zero across the whole life cycle, including operational and embodied emissions.

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Founded at COP21, hosted by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and with 238 members, including 36 countries, the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC) is the leading global platform for governments, private sector, civil society, research, and intergovernmental organizations committed to a common vision: A zero-emission, efficient and resilient buildings and construction sector.
 
The GlobalABC aims to:

• Be a global advocate and a catalyst to action: GlobalABC advocates for market transformation and focuses on catalysing action by defining a carbon neutrality strategy for the built environment.
• Be a trusted platform to set targets and track progress: GlobalABC tracks progress in its annual Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction (Buildings-GSR), and its Building Climate Tracker, a new index to track progress in decarbonization in the sector.
• Support countries in setting priorities and measures based on their situation: GlobalABC develops policy guidance and global and regional buildings and construction roadmaps outlining aspirational targets, timelines, and key actions for essential policies and technologies, and, offering a model for national and city-level buildings and construction roadmaps to support and raise the ambition of NDCs.

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2020 has been an exceptional year in many ways. Due to the global pandemic, GlobalABC shifted most of its events and other activities online, starting with the GlobalABC Assembly which needed to be reconfigured at the last minute and took place entirely virtually; to dedicated sessions addressing the impacts of COVID-19 on the sector and looking at the contribution that the sector could make to build beck better if made part of recovery efforts; to several high-level events related to the UNFCCC process, also held in virtual format. Yet, GlobalABC was able to ensure outreach and member engagement. Overall, GlobalABC strengthened both, the visibility of the sector and radical collaboration across the sector’s value chain by effectively providing the collaborative platform for bringing all stakeholders together to work towards a zero-emission, efficient, and resilient buildings and construction sector. The flagship effort regarding the global and three regional roadmaps is a game changer, with the different member consortium efforts that are being rolled out to support additional regional roadmaps and national processes. With now over 150 members, GlobalABC has continued to grow our membership.

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The GlobalABC has made good progress against its key goals and milestones over the course of 2019, further cementing the foundations of the partnership, forging a common voice and vision and pathways for the needed transformation in the buildings and construction sector: The urgency of climate action in the buildings and construction sector continues to gather momentum with buildings included in the broader climate agenda and the COP25 schedule, from the SG’s Climate Summit to the regional climate weeks. National, sub-national and private sector actors are stepping up their ambition, leading to an increased number of commitments. The GlobalABC is established and recognised as the international platform that gathers a broad range of building and construction stakeholders and has stepped up its outreach and communication; for example, the social media presence in the lead up to the 2019 Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction launch at a press conference at COP25 led to multiple press and web references.

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