The buildings sector must work collaboratively to decarbonise rapidly and at scale.
Current efforts across the sector are varied and at times deliver inconsistent outcomes, limiting the potential for greater collective momentum towards net zero. Whilst the Climate Commitment Platform maps current business commitments, there is a need for further direction to work towards consistent outcomes.
The Climate Leadership Model has been developed by UKGBC as a shared resource to guide businesses committed to tackling the climate crisis, and for relevant industry bodies and practitioners to feed into. It summarises the leadership required from different sub-sectors in order to achieve a net zero carbon built environment.
The model focuses on scopes of emissions and desired outcomes, rather than prescribing principles for good carbon management (e.g. educating staff, measurement and reporting, setting science-based targets). Companies should compare their own climate commitments against the model to evaluate if there are opportunities to increase the scope or level of ambition of their carbon targets.
The leadership activities have been broadly placed under the following three categories:
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- Direct Control – emissions from a company’s own operations (scope 1 and 2 emissions).
- Value Chain – emissions outside of a company’s direct control, however which it has the ability to influence (scope 3 emissions).
- Advocacy & Influence – key activities that a company should undertake to stimulate wider market transformation and system change.
The model was developed with input from several industry bodies (listed at bottom of page) and is intended to be refined via further collaboration. In this way, the currently fragmented buildings sector should be better aligned and consistent in its efforts to tackle the climate crisis.
Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment
The model provides links to other relevant built environment programmes and commitments, including WorldGBC’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment. This commitment is considered the most relevant to the buildings sector for creating a market shift towards a net zero carbon built environment and is listed against all stakeholders.
WorldGBC is currently developing guidance broken down by sub-sector to help property and construction companies reduce their scope 3 emissions. This guidance will be published in November 2020 as an update to the NZCB Commitment’s Detailed Guidance document. A fact sheet which includes an overview of stakeholders influence over the whole life carbon of buildings is available here.
If you have any questions, or would like to provide feedback on the model, please email ANZ@ukgbc.org.