NZERB Plan to Accelerate Solutions

The Near-Zero Emission and Resilient Buildings (NZERB) Plan to Accelerate Solutions (PAS) is the sector's shared implementation framework. Launched at COP30 in Belém, it brings together governments, cities, financial institutions, industry, and technical organisations around a common set of priorities and coordinated actions to make near-zero emission and resilient buildings the new normal by 2030.

The PAS is hosted by the UNEP-hosted GlobalABC Secretariat and developed collaboratively with its member organisations. It is a living framework, updated as implementation progresses and new milestones are reached.
 

What is the NZERB PAS? 

The NZERB PAS is an umbrella implementation platform for the buildings and construction sector under the Global Climate Action Agenda. It connects political commitments to practical delivery by aligning stakeholders across the buildings value chain around five priority areas.

Rather than replacing existing initiatives, the PAS maps, coordinates, and elevates ongoing efforts. It identifies implementation gaps, aligns partners around shared priorities, and focuses collective action on interventions with the greatest potential to accelerate market transformation.

It covers both mitigation and resilience, across new construction and deep renovation, and across the whole life cycle of buildings. Its geographic scope is global, with particular emphasis on supporting Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDEs).
 

Five Priority Areas

The PAS is structured around five concurrent priority areas, each with agreed international actions (2024–2026), 2030 success statements, and quantitative indicators:

1. Standards and Certification

Establishing a shared global framework of NZERB definitions, principles, indicators, and policy guidelines, built on and aligned with existing standards, certifications, and initiatives, to give governments a common foundation for policy implementation.

Facilitating Partner: World Green Building Council (WorldGBC)

GlobalABC Hubs and Actions Groups support: Adaptation Hub, Data Hub, Market Transformation Hub, Materials Hub,  Sufficiency Hub, Passive Cooling Action Group

Key output: Near-Zero Emission and Resilient Buildings: Shared Definitions, Indicators, Frameworks, and Policy Guidance for Implementation (April 2026): coordinated by GlobalABC and led by the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC), establishing a globally aligned framework of definitions, principles, metrics, and policy recommendations to support adoption of NZERBs.

2. Demand Creation

Procurement is one of the most powerful levers governments hold. The PAS helps public institutions translate that leverage into NZERB-aligned commitments, for new buildings and deep renovation alike, while aligning procurement policies with standards for clean and efficient heating and cooling.

Facilitating Partner: One Planet Network 

GlobalABC Hubs and Actions Groups support: Clean Heat Forum, Materials Hub

Key output: Global Framework for Action on Circular and Sustainable Public Procurement for the Built Environment (May 2025), developed with the GlobalABC Materials Hub and the One Planet Network. Country-level implementation is supported through online training modules, technical webinars, and regional capacity-building sessions in Latin America and Africa.

3. Finance and Investment

Supporting countries, in particular EMDEs, to expand international financial and technical assistance programmes that address blended finance instruments, policies, and the capacity of local banks and lenders.

Facilitating Partners: Partnership for Energy Efficiency in Buildings (PEEB) & International Finance Corporation (IFC) 

GlobalABC Hubs and Actions Groups support: Finance Hub

Key output: 

  • NZERB Financing Facilities Landscape Survey (April 2026), mapping the landscape of technical assistance and finance solutions, with a focus on how finance can be better structured, coordinated, and channelled toward impactful building projects.
  • “Article 6’ Implementation Handbook for Buildings led by the Partnership for Energy Efficiency in Buildings (PEEB), to help mobilise climate finance for energy efficiency in buildings across EMDEs.
  • The launch of a PEEB (AFD/GIZ) initiative to strengthen banks' institutional capacity to finance NZERBs, beginning in Mexico and expanding to additional countries.
4. Project Deployment

Accelerating project deployment at national and regional levels, with a focus on finance-ready projects, particularly in developing regions.

Governments are supported to increase annual renovation rates, with priority given to deep renovation. Regional demonstration projects translate global guidance into local implementation, creating replicable models.

Key outputs:

5. Capacity and Skills

Strengthening institutional, educational, and enforcement systems to build the skills and knowledge base needed for sector-wide transformation.

This includes the roll-out of online capacity-building modules, regional training sessions, the GlobalABC Knowledge Platform, and engagement with the GlobalABC Higher Education Institutions Action Group.

NZERB PAS report covers

 

Key milestones since COP30

Since the PAS launched at COP30, implementation has advanced across all five priority areas:

  • Political endorsement at the COP30 Ministerial on Buildings of multiple PAS outputs, including adaptation pathways, whole-life-cycle policy recommendations, sustainable public procurement, low-carbon materials definitions, and innovative financing approaches.
  • Publication of the NZERB Shared Definitions report, providing the sector with a globally aligned framework.
  • Publication of the NZERB Financing Facilities Landscape Survey, mapping the finance landscape for NZERBs.
  • Launch of the PEEB bank capacity-building initiative, beginning in Mexico.
  • Progress on sustainable public procurement, including online training and regional capacity-building programmes.
  • Development of Global Passive Cooling Guidelines for Tropical Climates, now being adopted by countries including Cambodia.

 

How the PAS connects to COP31

The COP31 Presidency has announced three 2035 targets for the buildings sector:

  • A 25% reduction in building sector energy intensity
  • An increase in building electrification from 20% to 35% of final energy demand
  • A circular material use and waste reduction target

The NZERB PAS provides the implementation architecture to pursue these targets. Through the ICBC's government-led platform and GlobalABC's broad member network, the PAS connects COP31 ambition to national planning, financing, and delivery.
 

Who drives the PAS?

The NZERB PAS is hosted by the GlobalABC Secretariat and implemented through GlobalABC's thematic Working Groups and partner organisations, including:

WorldGBC, ICC, RICS, WBCSD, Partnership for Energy Efficiency in Buildings (PEEB), Solar Impulse Foundation, UNEP One Planet Network, C40, Cement Breakthrough, UNOPS, Climate Heritage Network, Green Finance Institute (GFI), GlobalABC Adaptation Hub, Materials Hub, Subnational Hub, Market Transformation Hub, and others.

Political leadership is provided through the Intergovernmental Council for Buildings and Climate (ICBC).