European Regional Network WorldGBC Advancing Net Zero Status Report 2022 Europe was a focal point of global climate action in 2021 with Italy and the UK jointly hosting the COP26 climate negotiations. The Europe Regional Network (ERN) used this opportunity to profile two of our major climate action projects, #BuildingLife and BUILD UPON 2 . The #BuildingLife project has been designed around the insights and conclusions from the groundbreaking 2019 Bringing Embodied Carbon Upfront report. Ten GBCs have each convened leaders from across the sector to develop national decarbonisation roadmaps. And WorldGBC has led a coalition at the European level to prepare an EU Policy Roadmap for whole life carbon. These roadmaps will guide political and industry decision-making over the coming years to ensure the building and construction sector is fully contributing to Europe’s goal to be climate neutral by 2050. España and targeted the role of cities as climate action catalysts. With 97% of Europe’s building stock not performing at the level needed to meet climate goals, this work is of critical importance to advance net zero. Eight GBCs have worked with pilot cities to develop and test the BUILD UPON Framework : a set of impact metrics to help cities capture and report the progress of renovation programmes. Both #BuildingLife and BUILD UPON 2 have helped shape the ERN’s work on the EU Taxonomy — a new classification scheme for sustainable finance. The Taxonomy has the potential to significantly re-align capital flows in Europe towards more sustainable investments. WorldGBC is a member of the expert group convened by the European Commission to advise on how to set the Taxonomy criteria for the built environment. This work will be a catalyst for a forthcoming global workstream on sustainable finance. In its first year, the project has reached over 10 million people with a major communications campaign that is supported by over 150 campaign ambassadors, including members of the European and national parliaments, CEOs and civil society leaders. The project has helped put whole life carbon firmly on the European political agenda with new proposals to address it in key buildings legislation. BUILD UPON 2 is ERN’s flagship project on building renovation. The latest phase was coordinated by GBC Stephen Richardson Director of European Regional Network PAGE 23
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