Ahead of COP27, World Green Building Week 2022 puts people back at the heart of the built environment

This World Green Building Week, we’re #BuildingforEveryone. Green Building Councils (GBCs) across the globe unite to take part in the World Green Building Council’s (WorldGBC) annual World Green Building Week (WGBW) on 12-16 September 2022 to accelerate the Sustainable Development Goals.

Low carbon and highly resilient built environments can tackle the global energy and cost of living crisis

As communities around the world experience the impacts of the global energy and cost of living crisis, the WorldGBC campaign — #BuildingforEveryone — calls on the global building and construction sector to accelerate the uptake of solutions for low carbon and highly resilient built environments. Now in its 14th year and led by a network of over 70 national Green Building Councils and their 36,000 members, the week-long event is the world’s largest campaign to accelerate sustainable built environments for everyone, everywhere.

This year the campaign is putting people back at the heart of the built environment by demonstrating how the network is catalysing the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Throughout the week, the GBC network will host events across the world and share examples of #BuildingforEveryone — built environments that drive climate action and thriving communities and economies. This year’s campaign ties into WorldGBC’s 20 year anniversary and the #BuildingToCOP27 initiative, which aims to elevate the role the built environment can play as a critical climate solution in the context of the UN climate negotiations taking place in Egypt in November 2022.

“Four billion people are vulnerable today to the impacts of climate change, and the World Meteorological Organisation reports we already 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. And right now, the energy and cost of living crisis is already disproportionately affecting our societies’ most vulnerable people.

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.

As we build on the successes of Cities, Regions and Built Environment Day at the UN Climate Conference, COP26, in 2021 and continue to advocate for climate action towards COP27, leaders must leverage the untapped opportunities of the built environment to decarbonise our economies and provide social economic benefits for those who need it the most.

That’s why this World Green Building Week our #BuildingforEveryone campaign is putting people back at the heart of the built environment. Between 12-16 September, we’re inviting our global community to take urgent action to accelerate the UN Sustainable Development Goals and sustainable built environments for everyone, everywhere.”

Cristina Gamboa, CEO, World Green Building Council

Three themes highlight how the built environment can support the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals

Building for the planet

The climate crisis is also a global health crisis. Unless we take urgent action to reduce climate breakdown now, the health of millions of people will be negatively affected by increased temperatures, infectious diseases will spread faster, and it will be harder to grow the food we need to live healthily.

Building for communities

1.6 billion people will lack access to safe, adequate housing by 2025. To combat the global cost of living crisis, we need to take urgent action now to address inadequate, unaffordable housing and enhance equity, economic productivity and environmental sustainability.

Building for economies

Sustainable built environments bolster our economies’ most important asset — nature. Accelerating a more circular and regenerative economy will create new jobs and savings on energy bills. We need to take urgent action now to advance economies that are more productive and resilient for our communities and our planet.

WGBW22 events

Throughout the week, there will be a range of events taking place around the world. WorldGBC will also host webinars dedicated to creating resilient homes and equity in the built environment.

Join us at World Green Building Week from 12-16 September 2022, contact the Canada Green Building Council, and join the social media campaign on @WorldGBC, #BuildingforEveryone and #WGBW22.

About World Green Building Week

World Green Building Week is the world’s largest campaign to accelerate sustainable built environments for everyone, everywhere.
Organised by the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC), it is led by our global network of over 70 Green Building Councils and their 36,000 members.

World Green Building Council

The World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) catalyses the uptake of sustainable buildings for everyone, everywhere.
Transforming the building and construction sector across three strategic areas—climate action, health & wellbeing, and resources & circularity — we are a global action network comprised of over 70 Green Building Councils around the world.

As members of the UN Global Compact, we work with businesses, organisations and governments to drive the ambitions of the Paris Agreement and UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development. Through a systems change approach, our network is leading the industry towards a net zero carbon, healthy, equitable and resilient built environment.
www.worldgbc.org