For a zero-emission, efficient, and resilient built environment for everyone, everywhere

The buildings and construction sector is responsible for ~40% of global energy-related carbon emissions and 50% of all extracted materials. It is estimated that between 2020 and 2050, new projects will generate half of their emissions from embodied sources, such as concrete and steel, and half from the energy used in operation. However, a building lifespan is typically 60 years – so, this ratio is skewed in the medium-term towards embodied emissions. Embodied carbon emissions can account for 72% of building emissions over a 10-year time horizon. Two-thirds of people will live in cities by 2060, and half of the urban fabric to accommodate them is not yet built. It is critical that the built environment addresses both operational and embodied emissions, taking a whole-life carbon approach.

Decarbonizing the global power sector

The global power sector is the source of over 30% of all emissions, a figure that is on track to grow with global economic development and the electrification of transportation and building sectors. Under the Net Zero Emissions (NZE) scenario modelled by the International Energy Agency, electricity consumption will more than double from 2020 to 2050, from around 22,000 to 60,000 TWh. In order for this dramatic growth in consumption and resulting economic development to remain within a net zero emissions scenario, we must shift ever faster to renewable power. While undergoing this transition, in order to support long-term climate resilience, we must also ensure access to reliable energy for the 800 million people without and clean cooking to the over 2 billion people in the world still using inefficient, polluting cooking systems.

Towards a net zero hard to abate sector

The global cement sector accounts for around 7% of global CO2 emissions. The industry has made progress during the last 2 decades to lower carbon intensity – but there is a recognition that these efforts need to be significantly accelerated. The global cement industry has committed to an ambitious, zero emission trajectory aligned to 1.5oC. To achieve it, critical action is needed in this decade. Overall it is expected that the demand for cement will continue to rise: The world’s building stock and infrastructure will grow exponentially – 75% of the world’s needs for 2050 is yet to be built. Under business as usual, emissions may increase by 40 % by 2050. In order to ensure transparent tracking of emissions, independent of the amount of cement produced, a relative target is being measured. As a breakthrough , by 2030, we must reduce the carbon intensity globally per ton of cement produced to 463 kg; this is the equivalent to a reduction by 25% compared to 2020.

Transforming the ICT & Mobile sector

The ICT & Mobile sector is responsible for 1.4% (730Mt) of global CO2e equivalent emissions. Of which 50% is from user devices, 25% from IT networks and 22% from data centres and enterprise networks. Entertainment and Media (e.g. TVs, TV networks and media devices) contribute a further 1.2% (640Mt) CO2e (Malmodin & Lundén, 2018). 80% of the ICT footprint is from the use of electricity (in all lifecycle stages). So if 80% of the ICT sector and its users switch to decarbonised electricity by 2030, sector emissions will approximately halve between 2020-2030, aligned with a 1.5C science based pathway (Sources, ITU L.1470 GHG trajectory, ICT SBTI pathway). A report collecting data for a wide range of ICT companies found that among the evaluated companies in 2020 approx 30% ICT sector electricity came from renewable sources (ITU, 2022). Recent analysis from the GSMA found that operator networks in 41 countries are now using at least 75% renewable electricity with networks across Europe using the most renewable electricity at 71% on average.

Transforming the Pharmaceutical and Medical Technology Sector

Labs are resource intensive spaces. They can use up to 10x more energy and 4x more water than office spaces. There is also an estimated 12 billion pounds of plastic waste produced each year from laboratories around the world, which represents 2% of global plastic waste. Within the pharmaceutical and medical equipment sector, research labs and lab supply chains are a critical leverage point to drive organizational change because they engage a wide range of stakeholders and are a major source of carbon emissions. The My Green Lab Certification provides a clear, measurable goal that enables the system change necessary for the pharma and medical equipment sector to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.

NbS Breakthroughs

Nature provides resilience and at least a third of the mitigation and removal opportunity required to achieve a 1.5°C pathway. Key actions, such as shifting to healthy sustainable diets, minimising food loss and waste, regenerative grazing, forestry, and farming, as well as, rapidly restoring and protecting nature, the rights of Indigenous peoples, and deploying urban nature at scale, are needed. Every country, city and citizen, every financial institution, company and civil society organisation has a role to play to mitigate over 10Gt of CO2e each year by 2030.

At the centre of the solution to enhancing coastal resilience lies the protection and restoration of coastal ecosystems and biodiversity. Coastal habitats not only help mitigate the impacts of climate change by sequestering carbon and acting as important natural buffers to sea-level rise and storm surges, but they also play a critical role for income, culture, livelihoods, and nutrition security, especially for coastal communities in SIDS and LDCs. Discover how we're helping accelerate the investment of USD 4 billion to restore and protect 15 million hectares of mangroves by 2030.

By setting measurable and science-based targets, the Coral Reef Breakthrough invites public and private actors to rally behind a shared vision, ensuring the survival and prosperity of coral reefs for generations to come. Beyond individual goals, our efforts align with a broader global commitment, directly contributing to Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG14. Moreover, our initiative stands to reinforce the Ocean and Coastal Impact System targets of the Sharm-El Sheikh Adaptation Agenda and fortify the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s aspirations.

Towards a just, clean and accessible mobility system for all

Transport has the highest level of reliance on fossil fuels of any sector today, which supplies about 95% of its final energy demand. It accounts for more than 20% of global energy-related direct CO2 emissions and produces a significant share of air pollution and related threats to public health. Total land transport activity is expected to more than double by 2050 compared to 2015, making it the fastest growing emitting sector. Decarbonisation of road transport will require the implementation of a broad set of policies, often summarised as a hierarchy of actions, as “avoid, shift, improve”. Avoid and reduce the need for motorised transport. Shift to more environmentally friendly modes. Improve energy efficiency of transport modes and increase the use of renewables.

2030 Breakthrough

In addressing the urgent need for climate action, the focus in the land transport sector has predominantly centred on advancing the “Improve” dimension, primarily through the electrification of the vehicle fleet. A pivotal facet in achieving a comprehensive transformation lies in establishing targets that distinctly prioritize the “Avoid & Shift” dimension.

Transforming the maritime sector

Shipping transports around 80% of global trade and accounts for 3% of global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, from the combustion of fossil fuels. Under business as usual, emissions may increase by half by 2050. To set international shipping on an ambitious, zero emission trajectory aligned to 1.5C, the sector must transition away from using fossil fuels supported by the necessary infrastructure for scalable zero emission energy sources including production, distribution, storage and bunkering. Shipping is still in the emergence phase of the transition and we need at least 5% of a scalable zero emission fuel by 2030 to enable rapid scaling and mass adoption in the diffusion phase.

To deliver a resilient, safe climate we must reduce carbon dioxide emissions by at least 50% by 2030, reach net-zero emissions by 2050 and stay at net-negative emissions throughout the second half of the century. The science is clear. All IPCC modelled pathways that keep warming below the Paris Agreement threshold of 2°C, or preferably 1.5°C, require emission reductions and the safe removal and storage of CO2 from the atmosphere. We cannot be deforesting with one hand and reforesting with the other. This does not shift the overall carbon balance in the right direction. To achieve our Paris-aligned goals, we must be reducing our emissions as fast as possible across all sectors while increasing our global capacity to remove past emissions from the atmosphere. These activities are complimentary; they cannot be substituted one for the other.