‘More and Faster’: UN Calls to Shrink Buildings’ Carbon Footprint

 Snow capped mountains are seen behind the downtown Los Angeles skyline, California, US, March 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Snow capped mountains are seen behind the downtown Los Angeles skyline, California, US, March 7, 2025. (Reuters)
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‘More and Faster’: UN Calls to Shrink Buildings’ Carbon Footprint

 Snow capped mountains are seen behind the downtown Los Angeles skyline, California, US, March 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Snow capped mountains are seen behind the downtown Los Angeles skyline, California, US, March 7, 2025. (Reuters)

Countries must move rapidly to slash CO2 emissions from homes, offices, shops and other buildings -- a sector that accounts for a third of global greenhouse gas pollution, the United Nations said Monday.

Carbon dioxide emissions from the building sector rose around five percent in the last decade when they should have fallen 28 percent, according to a new report by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

It said emissions had plateaued since 2023 as climate policies began to have an impact, particularly green building standards, the use of renewable energy and electrified heating and cooling.

But the building sector still consumes 32 percent of the world's energy and contributes 34 percent of CO2 emissions, the report found.

"The buildings where we work, shop and live account for a third of global emissions and a third of global waste," said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP.

"The good news is that government actions are working. But we must do more and do it faster."

She called on nations to include targets to "rapidly cut emissions from buildings and construction" in their climate plans.

The report said that while most of the countries that signed up to the 2015 Paris climate deal -- nearly 200 have signed -- mention the sector, so far only 19 countries have sufficiently detailed goals in their national carbon cutting plans.

The report said that as of 2023, important metrics like energy-related emissions and the adoption of renewable energy "remain well below required progress rates".

That means that countries, businesses and homeowners now need to dramatically pick up the pace to meet the 2030 emissions reduction targets.

- 'Critical challenge' -

Direct and indirect CO2 emissions will now need to fall more than 10 percent per year, more than double the originally envisaged pace.

The rollout of renewables is a similar story.

The share of renewables like solar and wind in final energy consumption rose by only 4.5 percentage points since 2015, well behind the goal of nearly 18 percentage points.

That now needs to accelerate by a factor of seven to meet this decade's goal of tripling renewable energy use worldwide, UNEP said.

The report urged countries to accelerate the roll-out of renewable technologies and increase the share of renewables in the final energy mix to 46 percent by 2030 -- a rise of around 18 percent.

It also called on policymakers to increase energy efficiency retrofits to include better design, insulation and the use of renewables and heat pumps.

More work also needs to be done to improve the sustainability of materials like steel and cement, whose manufacture accounts for nearly a fifth of all emissions from the building sector.

But the report did say that circular construction practices were increasing in some areas, with recycled materials accounting for 18 percent of construction inputs in Europe.

The authors urged all major greenhouse gas emitters to take action by introducing zero-carbon building energy codes by 2028, and called on other countries to create and tighten their regulations within the next 10 years.

The report highlighted positive national policies from China, France, Germany, Mexico and South Africa among others.

But it said financing remained a "critical challenge".

In 2023, it found that global investment in energy efficiency in buildings fell seven percent from a year earlier to $270 billion, driven by higher borrowing costs and the winding back of government support programs, notably in Europe.

Those investments now need to double -- to $522 billion -- by 2030, it said.



'Lungs of the Earth': the Indonesians Fighting for Peatland

Indonesia has more tropical peatland than any country, but it is also quickly losing this poorly understood ecosystem. STR / AFP
Indonesia has more tropical peatland than any country, but it is also quickly losing this poorly understood ecosystem. STR / AFP
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'Lungs of the Earth': the Indonesians Fighting for Peatland

Indonesia has more tropical peatland than any country, but it is also quickly losing this poorly understood ecosystem. STR / AFP
Indonesia has more tropical peatland than any country, but it is also quickly losing this poorly understood ecosystem. STR / AFP

Indonesian environmentalist Pralensa steered his boat through a shallow canal in the marshy peatlands near his village, an environment he fears may soon disappear.

His oar stirred up rich organic material in the brackish water, evidence of the layers of plant matter that make peatlands vital carbon dioxide stores and key to biodiversity, AFP said.

Indonesia has more tropical peatland than any other country, but it is also quickly losing this poorly understood ecosystem.

That affects local residents and wildlife but also has global impacts, because converted peatland can release vast quantities of planet-warming carbon dioxide.

Pralensa worries a similar fate awaits much of the swampy peatland around his village of Lebung Itam in South Sumatra.

Locals say palm oil firm Bintang Harapan Palma has already begun digging canals to drain the peatlands for planting.

"We protested... we told them this is a community-managed area," said Pralensa, who, like many Indonesians, uses a single name.

"According to them, they already have rights to this land."

Bintang Harapan Palma did not respond to AFP's request for comment.

Peatlands are an in-between place -- seemingly neither water nor land -- an environment that slows plant decomposition and forms carbon-rich peat.

Covering just three percent of the world's surface, they hold an estimated 44 percent of all soil carbon.

Indonesia's peatlands are home to endangered orangutans, as well as economically important fish species. They also help prevent flooding and drought, lower local temperatures and minimize saltwater intrusion.

For Pralensa, peatlands are no less than a "spiritual bond".

"From the moment that we exist, that we're born, we are aware of this peatland. We encounter it every moment of every day," the 44-year-old said.

Catastrophic fires

Indonesia's peatland has long been converted for agriculture, drained of the water that is its lifeblood, with severe consequences.

Dry peat is highly flammable, and fire can smoulder underground and reignite seemingly at will.

The blazes sparked calls for action, including a moratorium on new peatland concessions.

Government regulations adopted the following year banned several damaging activities, including burning and drying out peatland.

The environment ministry did not respond to questions submitted by AFP.

"Weak oversight and law enforcement in Indonesia allow the exploitation of peatlands to continue," said Wahyu Perdana at peatland preservation NGO Pantau Gambut.

And fires still happen "almost every year," said Rohman, a farmer in Bangsal village, around two hours west of Lebung Itam.

Like Lebung Itam, it is ringed by plantations on converted peatland.

Bangsal residents could once rely on vast wetlands to feed their distinctive buffalo, which dive beneath the water to graze.

Fish traps supplied additional income, along with small rice paddies.

'We must protect nature'

Plantation infrastructure prevents water from subsiding properly when the rains end, complicating rice planting.

And then there is the seasonal haze.

"It's difficult to do anything" when it descends, said Rohman, with visibility sometimes dropping to just a few meters.

Everything from "economic activity to children playing and learning is very disrupted".

Rohman, 53, was one of several plaintiffs from Bangsal and Lebung Itam who filed a landmark lawsuit over the fires.

They argued three companies with nearby timber plantations on peatland bore legal responsibility for the health, economic and social impacts of local fires.

Filing the suit was not an easy decision, said Bangsal schoolteacher Marda Ellius, who alleges a company named in the case offered her money and help for her family if she withdrew.

"I kept thinking that, from the beginning, my goal here was for the environment, for many people," she said.

"I chose to continue."

AFP could not reach the companies named in the suit. Major firm Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), which buys from the three companies, did not respond.

This month, a local court rejected the suit, saying the plaintiffs lacked standing.

"The pain cannot be described," plaintiff Muhammad Awal Gunadi said of the ruling.

"It was tough because we were facing corporations.

The group has pledged to appeal, and Bangsal's villagers are lobbying local government for a new designation to protect their remaining peatland.

Healthy peat is "like the lungs of the Earth," said Bangsal resident and buffalo farmer Muhammad Husin.

"Hopefully, if we protect nature, nature will also protect us."