Global alliance launched at COP21 to help buildings combat climate change

This week, the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction was launched at COP21, with the initiative tackling building-related issues that currently account for around 40% of global energy demand and approximately 30% of greenhouse gas emissions.

In conjunction with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the first Buildings Day will essentially provide an opportunity to launch an alliance of organisations that are collectively committed to:

• Helping to put the buildings and construction sector on the "below 2°C path";
• Aligning existing initiatives, commitments and programmes to achieve greater scale and increase the pace of efficiency actions;
• Catalysing stronger collaboration and targeting sectoral and cross sectoral climate action and solutions for all.

In the coming years, residential and urban communities are planned to accommodate the growing global population. With this growth the built environment sector will become increasingly important as a focus for climate action.

Organisations supporting the Alliance and the UNFCCC's work include the Passive House Institute and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

"The property sector has a huge influence on the global financial system. We want to leverage this influence to support the efforts of governments as they negotiate a new climate deal in Paris," says Sean Tompkins, chief executive officer of RICS. "And we want to build on that relationship by supporting governments as they make adaptation and mitigation commitments to curb the effects of climate change."