by Brianna Crandall — December 9, 2015—More than 20 global organizations formally endorsed the formation of a Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GABC) last week during “Buildings Day,” an event held in conjunction with the 2015 Paris Climate (COP21) Conference to raise awareness of actions that the building and construction industry is taking and can take to reduce carbon emissions, reduce energy consumption and improve the quality of the environment on a global scale.
According to a release from the Urban Land Institute (ULI), the purpose of the new Alliance is to advance the real estate industry’s efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change and reduce the industry’s carbon footprint on a worldwide scale.
Currently, the built environment is responsible for at least 30 percent of the carbon emissions released worldwide. The group hopes to promote environmentally conscious operations and development practices around the world, with real estate playing a significant role in mitigating climate change and creating resilient communities.
The formation of the alliance provides an opportunity to unite organizations around the world that are collectively committed to:
- Putting the buildings and construction sector on a course to help limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius;
- Aligning existing initiatives, commitments and programs to achieve greater scale and increase the pace of efficiency actions; and
- Catalyzing stronger collaboration and targeting sectoral and cross-sectoral action and solutions for all.
The organizations endorsing the formation of GABC are:
- 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Buildings and Construction Programme
- Architecture 2030
- Brazilian Sustainable Construction Council
- Climate Technology Centre and Network
- Cooperative Research Council for Low Carbon Living
- Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency
- Energy and Resources Institute
- Energy-cities
- European Construction Industry Federation
- Federation Francaise du Batiment
- Global Buildings Performance Network
- Global District Energy in Cities Initiative
- Global Environment Facility
- ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability
- Institut de la Francophonie pour le Developpement Durable
- International Energy Agency
- International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation
- International Union of Architects
- The Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group
- Reseau Habitat et Francophonie
- Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
- Sustainable Energy for All Initiative
- UNEP Global District Energy in Cities Initiative
- UNEP-Finance Initiative
- UNEP-Sustainable Buildings and Climate Initiative
- UN-HABITAT
- United Nations Environment Programme, France
- Urban Land Institute (ULI) and its Greenprint Center for Building Performance
- World Business Council for Sustainable Development
- World Green Building Council
- World Resources Institute
