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Built environment stakeholders take action on net zero carbon buildings

The World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) welcomes existing signatory, The GPT Group to the updated Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment. Additionally, Santiago de Cali (Cali) in Colombia has signed up to the Commitment through joining the C40 Net Zero Carbon Buildings Accelerator.

LONDON – 9am GMT, 20 September 2022 – Today, WorldGBC announces new and existing signatories to the updated Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment (the Commitment). The industry leaders are taking ambitious action to combat climate change by committing to decarbonise both operational and embodied emissions from their building portfolios. Cali becomes a new city signatory to the Commitment and C40’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Accelerator, committing to implementing policies and regulations to accelerate the uptake of net zero buildings.

The Commitment now has a total of 172 signatories, which includes 137 businesses and organisations, 29 cities, and six states and regions.

The businesses and organisations signed up to the Commitment now account for approximately 7.3 million (tCO2e) of portfolio emissions annually, nearly 20,000 assets and more than $427 billion annual turnover.

Business signatories are displaying industry leadership in the built environment, committing to reduce and compensate all operational emissions for assets over which they have direct control. As part of the updated Commitment, they will also maximise embodied carbon emissions reductions for new developments and major renovations by 2030, compensating for any remaining residual upfront embodied carbon emissions as part of a whole lifecycle approach.

As a city signatory, Cali is committed to enacting regulations and/or planning policy within jurisdictional control to ensure new buildings operate at net zero operational carbon by 2030 and all buildings by 2050. Cali’s administration demonstrates high ambition to create significant impact, and unequivocally generate momentum within the wider community, showing other governments and organisations the climate leadership being undertaken to secure our future on the planet. Cali, joins 28 other cities around the world that have made this commitment including Medellín, another city in Colombia, that has also committed to taking these ambitious actions.

Cristina Gamboa, CEO of the World Green Building Council:

“I’m delighted to announce the latest group of signatories to WorldGBC’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment, each showing industry leadership. The GPT Group are already delivering on their Commitment, achieving upfront embodied carbon neutrality on a recent development. Cali is implementing local policy and regulations to deliver on the Colombian National Roadmap to Net Zero Carbon Buildings.. Together, these signatories represent the diverse cohort of leaders participating in and accelerating change through the Commitment. It is more crucial than ever that industry leaders and policymakers step up and take accelerated action within their local region and markets, paving the way forward and encouraging mainstream uptake of net zero buildings.

You can read more stories of action from Commitment signatories in the 2022 Advancing Net Zero Status Report.”

The GPT Group (GPT) is a diversified property group that owns, develops and manages a high quality portfolio of over a hundred office, retail and logistics assets in Australia. ESG leadership is a core strategy pillar of The GPT Group and a carbon neutral climate response is a central commitment. Their sustainability focus is to be carbon neutral now, nature positive next. GPT is committed to achieving carbon neutral operations for all its managed assets by 2024 and upfront embodied carbon neutral property developments where GPT has control, from 2023 onwards. The GPT Group’s commitment is expanding to include the  GPT balance sheet, GPT Wholesale Office Fund and GPT Wholesale Shopping Centre Fund assets. In an Australian first, GPT has achieved upfront embodied carbon neutral certification for a Melbourne logistics development through the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) and Climate Active. (Also read GBCA news here) Read The GPT Group’s Commitment profile here.

Santiago de Cali has joined the Commitment through C40’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Accelerator, organised in partnership between WorldGBC and C40. They stand alongside 28 other cities globally that are implementing bold climate actions to decarbonise buildings. Under the Policy pathway for cities, the city pledges to enact regulations and/ or planning policy within jurisdictional control to ensure new buildings operate at net zero carbon by 2030 and all buildings by 2050. They have developed normative guidelines, programs and projects in terms of environmental sustainability in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It includes the Land Use Plan, District Development Plan 2020-2023 called “Cali, our common home” and incentivising projects that exceed the mandatory requirements as stated in the Label Cali Construye Sostenible and the Sustainable Construction Manual. The administration of the city is currently developing a local implementation plan of the Colombian National Roadmap to Net Zero Carbon Buildings, with the established target that in 2030, 100% of all new buildings licensed and large renovations are net zero at the operational carbon level. Read Santiago de Cali’s Commitment profile here.

As the leading initiative focused on climate action in the built environment, the Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment continues to grow exponentially, complementing initiatives such as the Race to ZeroScience Based Targets and The Climate Pledge. The Commitment’s signatories take action to reduce and compensate for all portfolio operational carbon emissions by 2030 or earlier, and maximise reductions of embodied carbon in new developments or major renovations, compensating for any residual emissions. Signatories demonstrate annual progress via reporting and verification protocols.

The Commitment is recognised as a frontrunner initiative and signatories as frontrunners in the Race to Zero. Commitment signatories are going further and faster to tackle operational and embodied emissions from their real estate assets, stimulating the innovative approaches, solutions and business models necessary for the entire sector to reach 2050 goals. For eligible signatories, the Commitment acts as a pathway to membership of the global EP100 initiative from the Climate Group, bringing together energy-smart companies doing more with less energy, in order to lower emissions and improve their productivity.

Bob Johnston, Chief Executive Officer, The GPT Group:

“As an early mover in responding to climate change, GPT is proud to transition to the updated WorldGBC Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment. GPT currently has more carbon neutral floor space than any other Australian property owner. We recently delivered Australia’s first Climate Active certified upfront embodied carbon neutral development and are committed to making all developments where GPT has control, upfront embodied carbon neutral from 2023. GPT is focused on addressing all emissions under our control and applying our knowledge to support our stakeholders.”

Roy Alejandro Barreras Cortés, Director of District Planning, Alcaldía de Santiago de Cali:

“In Santiago de Cali we have made this commitment because we are willing to change the way we are building a city. The fight against climate change has to do directly with cities, which is where more than 70% of carbon emissions originate and where more than 90% of energy consumption is produced. When we change our built environment, we are winning the battle against climate change. And this battle is especially important in developing countries and cities, such as Cali, where we have the opportunity to grow sustainably.

Cali is the third city in the country and the one that in the last 50 years has grown four times its size and is the opportunity to transform the way of expansion and construction.”

Cassie Sutherland, Managing Director Climate Solutions and Networks, C40 Cities:

“We welcome Cali signing the WorldGBC Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment and C40 Net Zero Carbon Buildings Accelerator, taking bold climate action through committing to enacting regulations and/or planning policies to decarbonise buildings in the city. Cali is joining Medellín as the second Colombian city to sign the Accelerator demonstrating city leadership in the country, establishing building decarbonisation pathways and setting the platform for equally ambitious actions to be taken by other cities in the country and the wider Latin America region.”

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MEDIA CONTACT

Kirsty Portelli, Marketing and Communications Officer, WorldGBC

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Editor’s Notes

The Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment comes from Advancing Net Zero, WorldGBC’s global project to accelerate uptake of net zero carbon buildings to 100% by 2050. The project works with the global Green Building Council network to develop tools and resources, including net zero carbon buildings certification schemes and training programmes.

The Commitment has been partly funded by We Mean Business, along with Laudes FoundationIKEA Foundation and the European Climate Foundation as part of the #BuildingLife project.

The Commitment was launched in September 2018 at the Global Climate Action Summit. It promotes and inspires leadership action on an advanced trajectory from business, governments and NGOs, to scale up responses to net zero carbon buildings through corporate and policy action.

The Commitment is recognised as a frontrunner initiative and signatories as frontrunners in the Race to Zero, Commitment signatories are going further and faster to tackle operational emissions from their real estate assets, stimulating the innovative approaches, solutions and business models necessary for the entire sector to reach 2050 goals.

See the full profiles of company signatories and what they are committing to here: https://worldgbc.org/commitment-signatories

About the World Green Building Council

The World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) catalyses the uptake of sustainable built environments 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 of more than 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

About EP100

EP100 is a global initiative by the Climate Group, bringing together a growing group of energy-smart companies committed to doing more with less to improve their energy productivity. Members are driving tech innovation and reducing emissions while making substantial cost savings and improving competitiveness – inspiring others to follow their lead. EP100 is delivered in partnership with the Alliance to Save Energy and in association with the World Green Building Council’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment. #EP100

Signatories of the Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment also include leading state and regional governments in the Under2 Coalition, of which the Climate Group is Secretariat.

About C40

C40 is a network of nearly 100 mayors of the world’s leading cities who are working to deliver the urgent action needed right now to confront the climate crisis and create a future where everyone, everywhere can thrive. Mayors of C40 cities are committed to using a science-based and people-focused approach to help the world limit global heating to 1.5°C and build healthy, equitable and resilient communities. Through a Global Green New Deal, mayors are working alongside a broad coalition of representatives from labour, business, the youth climate movement and civil society to go further and faster than ever before.

The current Chair of C40 is Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, and three-term Mayor of New York City Michael R. Bloomberg serves as President of the Board. C40’s work is made possible by our three strategic funders: Bloomberg Philanthropies, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), and Realdania.

To learn more about the work of C40 and our cities, please visit their website, or follow them on TwitterInstagramFacebook and LinkedIn.