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he science is simple but stark. If we press ahead with ‘business as usual’ – and continue to emit greenhouse gas emissions at current rates – we are headed for a world where average global temperature rise will exceed the 2 degrees threshold, beyond which the impacts of climate change will be severe. But our future does not have to look like this. With the ambition set out in the Paris Agreement, reached at the historic COP21 climate change conference in 2015, a world in which temperature rises are limited to 2 – and ideally 1.5 – degrees, could become a reality. And the building and construction sector is ready to play its part. In the COP22 edition of CLIMATE CHANGE – The New Economy, the World Green Building Council – a global network of Green Building Councils in over 70 countries – presented its groundbreaking Advancing Net Zero project. The long-term goal of the project is to ensure that all buildings operate at net zero carbon emissions by 2050 – meaning by the middle of this century, every single building will produce no carbon emissions annually, in operation. This target is ambitious but achievable. Since the launch of the project in 2016, we have made solid progress, laying the foundations that will be essential to help us achieve this goal over the next three decades. We have garnered the support of 10 Green Building Councils, in some of the world’s biggest building markets, including India and the United States. These organisations have committed to and are already making headway in rolling out specific net zero building certification/verification programmes, which will kick start the market, driving the demand and supply of net zero buildings, in a similar way to how existing green building certification schemes have done so over the past 15 to 20 years. Green Building Council leadership will also ensure that net zero carbon buildings consider a holistic approach to sustainable development, including low or zero waste, and significantly reduced water consumption. We have secured the backing and expertise of innovative businesses that are leading the way in delivering net zero buildings and developments around the world. They include the engineering firm Integral Group, which has designed over 65 net zero projects, from new build or retrofitted offices to science laboratories; international property and infrastructure group Lendlease, which is working on large-scale ‘Climate Positive’ developments such as Elephant & Castle in London, UK; and the product manufacturer ROCKWOOL Group, whose insulation products lead to the high levels of energy efficiency that are essential for net zero buildings. The potential impact of net zero buildings has also been noted by the ClimateWorks Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund and Blackstone Ranch Institute which have all provided support for the project since its launch. We recognise it is action and not just commitments that will lead us to a world of net zero carbon buildings. Collective efforts to date – just several hundred commercial net zero buildings and several thousand net zero homes and residential units around the world – are a far cry from the millions of buildings we need to be net zero carbon by 2050. And that is why our new report, published this month, sets out for the first time how we can get there.TERRI WILLS, CEO, WORLD GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL (WORLDGBC)AMBITIOUS AND ACHIEVABLE: NET ZERO CARBON EMISSIONS FROM BUILDINGS BY 2050Right: The Mineirão, in Belo Horizonte, is the first stadium in Brazil to receive the LEED Platinum seal, one of the highest grades in international sustainability certificationT102 SMART CITIES