UNEP will be hosting the following side-events during the Sustainable Buildings and Construction Summit 2026.
📅 20 April 2026 | 🕒 17:15 - 18:15
Chemicals and Construction through the lens of Circularity
The global transition toward sustainable buildings and construction is increasingly anchored in circular economy principles, including material efficiency, reuse, recycling, and lifecycle approaches. However, the role of chemicals within construction materials remains insufficiently addressed within this transition.
The buildings and construction sector is one of the largest material consumers globally, processing significant volumes of materials and chemicals across its value chain. Chemicals are embedded in construction materials and products and play critical functional roles (e.g. durability, fire resistance, binding, insulation). At the same time, hazardous chemicals can present risks to human health and the environment and can limit the safe reuse, recycling, and recovery of materials.
In this context, the Global Environment Facility (GEF-8) Integrated Programme on “Eliminating Hazardous Chemicals from Supply Chains” is supporting countries, including Costa Rica, Ecuador and Cambodia, in addressing hazardous chemicals in construction supply chains and promoting safer, more circular approaches.
This session aims to bring together stakeholders from across the construction and circularity communities to explore how chemicals influence circularity outcomes and to identify pathways for safer and more circular construction systems. It will explore the intersection between chemicals management and circularity in construction.
Session focus
- How chemicals affect reuse, recycling, and material recovery
- Where chemicals act as barriers to circular construction
- Trade-offs between performance requirements (e.g. fire safety, hygiene) and chemical risk reduction
- Opportunities to enable safe circularity through better material design, data, and standards
- Country experiences in eliminating hazardous chemicals from construction supply chains
Concept note including agenda and expected outputs
📅 22 April 2026 | 🕒 15:00 - 16:30
Advancing on a Global Implementation Programme on Chemicals in Buildings and Construction
The Global Framework on Chemicals (GFC), adopted in 2023, establishes a global commitment to the sound management of chemicals and waste across sectors. Target D6 calls for major economic sectors to develop and implement sustainable chemicals and waste management strategies by 2030.
The buildings and construction sector is one of the most materials- and chemicals-intensive sectors globally, with chemicals present across the entire lifecycle, from raw material extraction to demolition and waste management. Despite progress on climate and circularity, chemicals remain an under-addressed dimension of sustainability in construction.
Hazardous chemicals in construction materials can pose risks to human health and the environment and can limit the effectiveness of circular economy approaches by constraining reuse, recycling, and material recovery. Addressing these challenges requires improved transparency, identification of priority chemicals of concern, development of safer alternatives, and integration of chemicals considerations into lifecycle approaches and sectoral decision-making.
To address this gap, UNEP is supporting the development of a Construction Sector Implementation Programme under the GFC, aimed at mobilizing stakeholders across the construction value chain to operationalize relevant GFC targets. A draft Terms of Reference (TOR) has been developed and reviewed by an initial group of stakeholders, including industry, governments, civil society, and international organizations.
Session Focus
- Presentation of the current draft TORs and key issues
- Identification of priority chemicals, materials, and lifecycle stages
- Mapping of existing initiatives contributing to GFC objectives
- Discussion of governance, participation, and next steps
- Initiation of a broader construction chemicals stakeholder network
Concept note including agenda and expected outputs
