Governments and businesses urged to cut building emissions
The call, which follows the historic signing of the Paris Agreement by world leaders in New York last Friday, also comes as EU Member States are set to have just one year to submit “national renovation strategies,” which are detailed plans on how they will renovate their nation’s homes and commercial buildings to high standards of energy efficiency.
The WorldGBC, which explains how existing buildings currently account for 36 per cent of the EU’s total carbon emissions, believes that energy efficiency in buildings will be key to help meet the Paris Agreement, along with the region’s goals under the EU’s ‘Energy Union’, while also citing industry experts’ claims that the “rate and depth of renovation is insufficient to meet long-term climate targets.”
The world’s largest collaborative project on building renovation, BUILD UPON, was launched by 13 Green Building Councils across Europe last month, with the project aiming to create a renovation revolution across Europe, by establishing renovation strategies that involve and align the thousands of actors and existing initiatives tackling building renovation in the region.
James Drinkwater, Director of the WorldGBC’s Europe Regional Network, believes that emissions from existing buildings are one of the biggest climate challenges facing Europe.
“Curbing building emissions will be absolutely critical if we are to meet the ambition of the Paris Agreement. Europe is doing a huge amount on energy efficient renovation, but it’s not adding up to the results we need because of a lack of coordination,” he said.
“Countries now have just one year to put in place renovation strategies strong enough to meet this challenge, and this will require unprecedented collaboration from governments, industry, and a range of other organisations.
“This is where the BUILD UPON project can help – bringing actors together to establish strong, coherent national strategies to transform Europe’s ageing and inefficient building stock. We urge these countries to work with us and our partners to develop ambitious, coordinated strategies.”
The WorldGBC states that BUILD UPON has “begun convening a major policy dialogue process with over 1,000 organisations,” while over 200 building renovation leaders from across Europe are set to meet in Madrid, Spain, to agree a long-term vision for deep building renovation and the practical measures needed to achieve it.
Patty Fong, Programme Director of the Energy Efficiency Programme at the European Climate Foundation and a BUILD UPON board member, highlights how the EU is in the process of revising major laws that will decide the role that Europe’s building sector plays in achieving Paris’ ambition.
“What we really need is political and industry leadership with a long-term vision for the deep renovation of our building stock so we’re able to meet our collective climate targets and strong national renovation strategies have a clear role to play in this – which is why our network is partnering with BUILD UPON,” she said.
Luca Bertalot, Secretary General of the European Mortgage Federation – European Covered Bond Council (EMF-ECBC) and a BUILD UPON board member, added: “We strongly believe that the banking industry has a role to play in improving the quality and energy performance of housing so as to free-up disposable income and, in parallel, reduce credit risk for borrowers, lenders and investors.
“A pan-European initiative in this area will help to coordinate market interventions, which will reduce the public resources necessary to boost households’ energy savings. That is why the EMF-ECBC is cooperating with BUILD UPON.”
