Climate & emissions

The world’s fourth largest cement company has pledged to bring its emission reduction targets in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement. The cement sector accounts for around 7% of carbon dioxide emissions, and in a first for the industry HeidelbergCement, which employs some 58,000 people in 60 countries, committed to slash direct emissions by […]

Cities house more than half of the world’s population and are responsible for over 70% of the world’s energy-related carbon emissions, so they could make or break efforts to tackle climate change. A new study has ranked the action of 596 cities’ action to cut emissions and set climate strategies and awarded a top score […]

Mayors and leaders of 210 European cities, representing 62 million citizens have written to European leaders demanding that emissions are halved by 2030 and reach a net-zero by the mid-century. They also call on EU leaders to step up the EU’s climate commitments, to show global leadership and drive ambition to make rapid progress in […]

New York City is to replace its glass and steel skyline with trading one replete with plants, solar panels, and wind turbines. Legislation being passed by New York City Council passed a historic act is to turn the city green. In April, the city council approved the Climate Mobilization Act, a package of bills and resolutions designed […]

A framework outlining how developers, designers, owners, occupiers and policymakers can define and deliver a net-zero built environment has been drawn up by the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC). It aims to build consensus on a clearly defined understanding of net zero for the built environment, both in terms of the construction phase and a […]

Heating and cooling consumes around half of the EU’s energy. Without tackling this sector the EU’s decarbonisation goals cannot be realised. The EU’s Long-Term Strategy is a strategic vision for a climate neutral economy by 2050. It covers all major sectors and nearly all EU policies for a concerted effort to keep temperature increases well […]

In a sweeping new law—the most ambitious in the world for any large city — New York City will force owners of almost every large building to drastically limit carbon emissions or pay an annual fine, starting in 2024, of $268 per metric ton of CO2 over the limit. The buildings covered by the law will […]

While the construction industry has made great strides in addressing operational energy consumption (the amount of energy used to run the building), embodied carbon has been given the same attention. Most calculations around the carbon footprint of work often don’t account for embodied carbon: the carbon emissions produced as a result of the harvest/extraction, refinement […]

The world’s energy supply is almost as carbon intensive as it was two decades ago. Energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions rose by 1.7% in 2018, following an increase of 1.6% in 2017. This comes after three years of emissions staying flat and is due to a variety of factors, including economic growth, extreme weather and […]

If policymakers, businesses and investors across the world collaborate to scale-up renewable energy and to electrify sectors such as transport and heavy industry, 86% of the global power demand could be met with clean energy by 2050, new research from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has found. IRENA’s new report, entitled “Global Energy Transformation: A […]

Oceanix City is new habitation concept intended to be developed in sub-tropical and tropical areas that are most at risk of flooding first, but could soon offer a more attractive living environment. The scheme was unveiled at the First UN High-level Roundtable on Sustainable Floating Cities, which Oceanix co-convened with MIT, the Explorers Club and […]

Nanjing, Chengdu, and Qingdao have become the first Chinese cities to join a coalition of over 70 C40 cities from across the globe committed to the bold climate action needed to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Energy consumed by buildings account for 25% of China’s national GHG emissions. C40 is supporting four Chinese […]