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https://theconversation.com/our-buildings-are-driving-us-closer-to-climate-hell-how-do-we-get-back-on-course-to-net-zero-194166>
"More and more of the world’s people are feeling the impacts of climate change.
As United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said when COP27 opened
this week: “We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the
accelerator.”
Much of the weight on the accelerator is coming from the construction and
building sector. Accounting for 37% of global carbon dioxide emissions, the
built environment is a major part of the climate change problem. That also
means it can and must be a key part of the solution.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has just released its 2022
Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction at COP27. Its findings are
alarming.
The sector’s energy consumption and emissions have rebounded from the COVID
pandemic to an all-time high. Emissions are 2% higher than the previous peak in
2019.
The report says the reasons include revival of construction activity suppressed
during lockdowns, and more intensive use of existing buildings.
In 2021, buildings accounted for more than 34% of the world’s total energy
demand. This figure includes embodied energy that goes into construction
materials and processes, and operational energy that goes into running
buildings. The sector produced about 37% of CO₂ emissions.
The gap between the sector’s performance and what needs to be done to achieve
decarbonisation by 2050 is widening – despite a 16% increase in investments in
building energy efficiency from 2020 to 2021."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
