The Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction is a reference document published by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)-hosted Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC). This year's edition finds that in 2020, the sector accounted for 36 per cent of global final energy consumption and 37 per cent of energy related CO2 emissions, as compared to other end use sectors. While the level of emissions within the sector are 10 per cent lower than in 2019, reaching lows not seen since 2007, this was largely due to lockdowns, slowing of economies, difficulties households and businesses faced in maintaining and affording energy access and a fall in construction activity. Efforts to decarbonize the sector played only a small role.

Collectively, stakeholders in the sector must seize the opportunity that the COVID-19 economic recovery period offers to foster transformation for decarbonizing the sector. The sector must simultaneously meet a projected near-doubling of global demand for energy services in buildings and at least a doubling of floor space as developing economies continue to respond to the growing demand for building floor space, access to energy services and economic activities.

Environmental targets for the construction sector have become ever more stringent. Many stakeholders on both the supply and demand sides are increasingly calling for accessible and reliable data and information on buildings. Policymakers and market participants alike see the development and use of Building Passports as a way of overcoming current data gaps and data barriers, helping to capture, administer and manage building-related data and information across the whole life cycle. The overarching goals of these practical guidelines, which represent the collaborative effort of a global Task Force of public and private sector experts, are to illustrate the value of developing holistic, multi-dimensional Building Passports. At the same time, the guidelines reflect key aspects of past discussions about how to make them work in practice, drawing on the experiences of stakeholders and on existing and emerging similar-type initiatives. As such, these guidelines are a supporting tool that:

- explain the approach of a Building Passport for a more systematic and coherent approach to building-related data and information.

- help build capacity for improved data capture and management through practical recommendations and real-life examples of good practice.

- ensure a minimum of harmonization / standardization.

- foster more widespread market transformation through progressive digitization of building-related data and information, thus creating greater overall sectoral transparency and opportunities for the development of new business models and tools.

The report will be available to download soon.

This report aims to promote a sustainable development approach to meet the immense needs in terms of construction in Africa, based on a rational and sustainable use of local materials. To this end, it presents the advantages, challenges and conditions of use of these materials. It presents examples of technical solutions illustrated by a panorama of the potential resources of the territories (bio and geo-sourced). It provides elements of analysis of the impact of local "short circuit" channels and elements of methodology. It also highlights the need to match architectural design with the specific characteristics of locally available materials, which can be summed up as: "the right material in the right place".

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Cet ouvrage vise à promouvoir une approche Développement Durable pour répondre aux immenses besoins en matière de construction en Afrique, en se basant sur une utilisation rationnelle et durable des matériaux locaux. Pour cela, il présente les avantages, les enjeux et les conditions d'utilisation de ces matériaux. Il présente des exemples de solutions techniques illustrés par un panorama des ressources potentielles des territoires (bio et géosourcés). Il fournit des éléments d’analyse de l’impact des filières locales en « circuit court » et des éléments de méthodologie. Il met aussi en valeur la nécessaire adéquation entre conception architecturale et caractéristiques spécifiques des matériaux disponibles localement, ce qui se résume bien par : « le bon matériau au bon endroit »

This publication aims to inspire senior officials and decision makers in national, subnational and local governments to decarbonize the building sector, and to show them how to start. It does not present a comprehensive strategy, but rather highlights a set of essential measures and successful examples from intervention areas identified in the GlobalABC Regional Roadmaps – new buildings, existing buildings, building operations, building materials, and resilience. It assists officials and decision makers in identifying a starting point of a process for systematically incorporating building activities in their Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement. For a holistic approach, senior officials and decision makers may refer to the more comprehensive GlobalABC Global and Regional Roadmaps.

The GlobalABC is co-lead of the Built Environment Track of the Human Settlements Pathway!

The Human Settlements are one of the Thematic Areas of the Climate Action Pathways, which are a vital part of the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action (MPGCA) tools to enhance climate action and ambition towards fully implementing the Paris Agreement. The Pathways aim to provide a roadmap to help Parties and non-Party stakeholders alike to identify actions needed by 2025, 2030 and 2040 as steps to get to the 2050 vision of a 1.5°C resilient world. In this regard, the climate action pathway for human settlements addresses whole-life carbon mitigation, adaptation and resilience in the built environment, as well as waste and consumption within human settlements.

Restricting climate change to 1.5°C would need “rapid and far-reaching” changes around energy use, industry and buildings design, as well as the wider planning of cities and infrastructure. The buildings and construction sector currently account for almost 40% of global energy and process-related carbon emissions, while around half of buildings that are predicted to exist in 2050 have yet to be built. Continuing in this direction, over 970 cities could be subjected to extreme heat, 500 cities could suffer from lack of water availability, and over 570 cities could be impacted by sea level rise by 2050. If action is not taken today, we risk locking emissions and vulnerability into our buildings and infrastructure that will become increasingly costly to mitigate in the future. Based on this critical observation, the built environment track of the Human Settlements climate action pathway outlines a set of necessary stakeholder (i.e. policy makers, financial institutions, technology providers and innovators, business and service providers and civil society) actions to be taken to accelerate the transition to a net-zero carbon, healthy and resilient built environment.

UNECE has developed three in-depth national studies for Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and the Republic of Moldova under the project “Enhancing National Capacities to Develop and Implement Energy Efficiency Standards for Buildings in the UNECE Region”, which aims to enhance capacity of the UNECE member States to improve energy efficiency in buildings, with a focus on residential buildings. More information on UNECE helps Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and the Republic of Moldova scale up cost-effective climate action by improving buildings’ energy efficiency