IES sign pledge with Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction

Last updated: 1st November 2022

IES has taken the pledge with GlobalABC and has been accepted as a member. I am very honored to be taking the role as the company’s leading representative. I recently participated in my first conference on behalf of IES on important 2020 Assembly, in addition to signing to the 2 degrees pledge, which requires major action in the building sector, which IES has committed to.

During the discussions we focused a lot on COP26 happening in Glasgow. This year, Alok Sharma has been appointed President, and Nigel Topping has been appointed by the UK Government as the High Level Climate Action Champion for UN climate talks at COP26 in Glasgow UK, where IES is located. The five climate sectors that are represented in the COP26 action plan are as follows:

  1. Develop political commitments into on the ground action.
  2. Nature – safeguarding ecosystems, protecting natural habitats and keeping carbon out of the atmosphere. Promoting nature-based solutions.
  3. Energy transition -seizing the massive opportunities of cheaper renewables and storage. Cleaning our air, and helping economies shift away from a legacy of polluting fossil generation.
  4. Clean road transport, accelerating the move to zero-carbon road transport.
  5. Finance – the finance which will power the shift to a zero-carbon economy. From solar panels, to electric vehicles and tree planting, it is often finance that turns good intentions into action.

As you will notice here, new buildings and retrofit is not mentioned in the 5 major goals of COP26. This is why we need to support GlobalABC both monetarily and support the fact that ‘building emissions accounting for a major part of the worlds CO2 emissions’ should be a key topic of the conference. This is exactly what GlobalABC is doing. They will be having their own booth at the COP26, bringing this awareness to the table. 

“Why buildings? Building stock increasing globally: urgently need climate-friendly, resilient standards now to #FutureProofBuildings and lock in green growth” GlobalABC

As a part of the UN Environment Program, their purpose in one sentence is: “We support building capacity to promote the transition towards a zero-emission and resilient built environment globally as well as raising awareness of the potential and urgency of transforming the sector.”

Strategy and main objectives of the UN Environment Program are: 

This Work Area is tasked with raising awareness among stakeholders, communicating key messages and insights to the GlobalABC members and beyond as well as disseminating promising education and training initiatives and identifying any gaps that need addressing: Identifying and dissemination novel, promising approaches and solutions towards a zero-emission, efficient, and resilient buildings and construction sector. Sharing best practices. Disseminating training and education opportunities, including relevant contributions to the Global Status Report. Work Area co-chairs include: One Planet Network Sustainable Buildings and Construction Programme (SBC) Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) World Resources Institute.

The GlobalABC brings buildings to the discussion table when it comes to these important governmental talks.

So how can you support? Please join us in taking the pledge and becoming a contributing member so they can keep making the world aware of the impact of buildings on our environment. Because they have many government entities involved, along with universities, private companies and others, we have a true opportunity to make an impact together. You can participate through actions or the UN-EP.

https://globalabc.org/members/join-us 



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