Join us at World Green Building Week from 12-16 September 2022. This World Green Building Week we're #BuildingforEveryone
Four billion people are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and the World Meteorological Organization 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. The energy and cost of living crisis is already disproportionately affecting our societies’ most vulnerable people.
The built environment is part of the challenge and part of the solution
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.
At a time when many of us are reflecting on how we can have a more positive influence on nature and within our communities, these challenges remind us of what is possible when we come together to achieve a shared goal.
This World Green Building Week, we’re showing how our network’s holistic approach to #BuildingforEveryone can accelerate the Sustainable Development Goals and sustainable built environments for everyone, everywhere.
