Time running out for construction sector to cut energy use, meet climate goals – UN

(Eco Business, 14 Dec 2017) The clock is ticking on efforts to reform the buildings and construction sector’s energy performance and keep the Paris Agreement on track, new United Nations-backed research revealed on Tuesday.

The Global Status Report 2017, from the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction – first launched by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and France at the 21st Climate Change Conference – finds that the sector continues to grow, with the energy intensity per square meter of buildings needing to improve 30 per cent by 2030.

“Over the next 40 years, the world is expected to build 230 billion square metres in new construction – adding the equivalent of Paris to the planet every single week,” said Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, at a side event of the One Planet Summit in Paris. 

“This rapid growth is not without consequences,” he warned.

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Eco Business, 14 Dec 2017: Time running out for construction sector to cut energy use, meet climate goals – UN