Zero-Carbon Buildings in Cities

Read the policy highlights

Read the policy highlights in Japanese

The day-to-day use of buildings generates significant emissions, and recent decades have seen an acceleration in efforts to reduce these, notably as a response to climate change and more recently to the energy and cost of living crisis. However, these are not the only emissions to account for when calculating the overall carbon footprint of buildings. The production and the eventual demolition of buildings are also significant sources of emissions. These embodied carbon or embodied emissions, are expected to account for around half of the total carbon footprint of new buildings by 2050 if left unaddressed. In this report, the OECD calls for governments to adopt a whole life-cycle approach to building emissions, from construction to demolition. The report equips policy makers both at national and subnational level with actionable insights, practical tools, and proven examples to accelerate the adoption of comprehensive building decarbonisation policies.