The World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) announces its 13th annual World Green Building Week event, taking place on 12-16 September 2022.
As communities around the world experience the impacts of the global energy and cost of living crisis, the WorldGBC campaign — #BuildingforEveryone — calls on the global building and construction sector to accelerate the uptake of solutions for low carbon and highly resilient built environments.
Led by a network of over 70 national Green Building Councils and their 36,000 members, the week-long event puts people back at the heart of the built environment by demonstrating how the network is catalysing the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Throughout the week, the WorldGBC network will host events across the world and share examples of #BuildingforEveryone — built environments that drive climate action and thriving communities and economies. This year’s campaign ties into WorldGBC’s 20 year anniversary and the #BuildingToCOP27 campaign which elevates the role the built environment can play as a critical climate solution.
Cristina Gamboa, CEO, World Green Building Council: “Four billion people are vulnerable today to impacts of climate change, and the World Meteorological Organisation reports we have a 50% chance of breaching 1.5°C of warming over the next five years. According to the World Health Organization, air pollution kills over seven million people a year. And right now, the energy and cost of living crisis is already disproportionately affecting our societies’ most vulnerable people.
“The global built environment is responsible for almost 40% of global energy-related carbon emissions and 50% of extracted materials. By 2050, 1.6 billion urban dwellers will be regularly exposed to extreme high temperatures, which causes droughts and wildfire, and over 800 million people living in more than 570 cities will be vulnerable to sea level rise and coastal flooding.
“The built environment accounts for 10% of employment and 50% of all wealth. But climate change increases the risk of built assets becoming stranded ones. Climate change risks US $16 trillion of value for residential real estate assets and US $5 trillion for global commercial assets.
“As we build on the successes of Cities, Regions and Built Environment Day at the UN Climate Conference COP26 in 2021 and continue to advocate for climate action towards COP27, taking place next November, leaders must leverage the untapped opportunities of the built environment to decarbonise our economies and provide social economic benefits for our most vulnerable communities.
“That’s why this World Green Building Week our #BuildingforEveryone campaign is putting people back at the heart of the built environment. Between 12 – 16 September, we’re inviting our global community to take urgent action to accelerate the UN Sustainable Development Goals and sustainable built environments for everyone, everywhere.”
