At COP26, the Breakthrough Agenda was launched with considerable success and attention, aiming at strengthening international collaboration on the decarbonisation of high-emitting sectors (Transport, Power, Hydrogen, Steel, Agriculture). The Breakthrough agenda rallied 45 countries and ca. 70 percent of global GDP. Despite being a heavyweight for climate action (around 37 per cent of CO2 emissions and over 34 per cent of global final energy demand come from buildings and construction) A Buildings Breakthrough however was not part of this agenda.
On 11 November 2022, at the COP27 Breakthrough Agenda Ministerial, the governments of France and the Kingdom of Morocco re-confirmed their leadership of a Buildings Breakthrough, within the existing Agenda, with the UK and Germany confirming support. The Buildings Breakthrough statement “near-zero emission and resilient buildings are the new normal by 2030” serves as a joint vision and a rallying point for all countries.
To date, 16 countries have joined/are supporting the Buildings Breakthrough ‘near-zero emission and resilient buildings are the new normal by 2030’: Armenia, Austria, Canada, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany (joining shortly), Mauritania, Mongolia, Morocco, The Netherlands, Norway, Senegal, Sweden, Türkiye, and the UK.
In addition, 13 initiatives/foundations have announced their support to be listed as leading initiatives: The WBCSD Built Environment Transformation Program; WorldGBC Advancing Net Zero Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment; WorldGBC BuildingLife Programme; Programme for Energy Efficiency in Buildings (PEEB/GIZ); WRI Zero Carbon Building Accelerator; WRI Building Efficiency Accelerator; C40 Clean Construction programme, including the Clean Construction Accelerator; C40 Private Building Efficiency (PBE) and C40 New Building Efficiency (NBE) networks and the associated Net Zero Buildings Accelerator; The GlobalABC market transformation Work Area; The Clean Heat Forum; and the Solar Impulse Foundation.
On 17 November 2022, at the event titled "A call for a Buildings Breakthrough as a rallying point" at the COP27 Buildings Pavilion, the co-leading countries together with the UK High Level Climate Champion, the UNEP Executive Director, and multiple high-level country and initiative representatives joined forces issuing an official call to all countries to join the Buildings Breakthrough to accelerate the transition to sustainable buildings for everyone everywhere.
Additional countries and organisations interested in supporting the Buildings Breakthrough are invited to contact the GlobalABC Secretariat at global.abc@un.org.
