Buildings and Global Climate Forum Local Governments Roundtable

OUTCOME DOCUMENT OF THE LOCAL LEADERS ROUNDTABLE ON DECARBONIZING BUILDINGS

This statement gathers calls from Local and Subnational government leaders brought together during the closed-door Local Leaders Roundtable of the Buildings and Climate Global Forum and will inform the final Déclaration de Chaillot of the Forum. The Local Leaders Roundtable is supported by UNEP and UN-Habitat, in partnership with OECD, C40, the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, WRI, FMDV, Under2 Coalition, Climate Chance.

The Buildings and Climate Global Forum brings together ministers and high-level representatives of key organizations in an effort to spur the decarbonization of the buildings sector. The event is the first of its kind and will follow up on progress made at the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28).

On 7 March 2024 the Local Government Roundtable brought together 20 local and subnational government leaders in a closed-door roundtable to showcase the strong engagement of local governments to decarbonize buildings, including Mayors and leaders from 12 different countries. This Outcome Document gathers a call from these leaders from around the globe for better international cooperation, and for national governments to support local governments in financial and technical capacity to accelerate action on building decarbonization. It is to be delivered at the opening of the Ministerial plenary on 8 March 2024.

There has been an increasing global awareness that the climate battle will be lost or won in cities. The narrative of cities and buildings are interlinked as the need for buildings is increasing – and much of this will be in and around cities. Today, more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas and the urban share is expected to grow up to 68 per cent by 2050. In 2021, the buildings and construction sector accounts for 3 per cent of energy and process-related CO2 emissions. The climate impact of buildings is likely to increase in the coming decades due to rapid growth, especially in urban areas in the Global South. Yet, the buildings and construction sector is not on track to achieve decarbonization by 2050. It is therefore more urgent than ever to change the way humanity constructs and uses buildings.

The Local Leaders Roundtable presented a strong mobilization to showcase the importance of local governments to decarbonize the built environment in an equitable and inclusive way.

Visit the full Document to learn more on the Outcomes that were put forward.