World Economic Forum
Future of Real Estate
With buildings contributing 38% of all energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, business leaders have a critical role to play in lowering their global real estate emissions
Developed in conjunction with JLL and the Forum’s Real Estate CEO community, the Green Building Principles: The Action Plan for Net Zero Carbon provides a clear sequence of steps to deliver net-zero carbon buildings and along with globally applicable guidance on implementation.
Companies across every industry are encouraged to formally adopt the Principles and pledge to reduce their building-related emissions by 50% by 2030 and to deliver net-zero carbon real estate portfolios no later than 2050. To pledge, please contact us to learn more.
The Principles:
1. Calculate a robust carbon footprint of your portfolio in the most recent representative year to inform targets
2. Set a target year for achieving net-zero carbon, by 2050 at the latest, and an interim target for reducing at least 50% of these emissions by 2030
3. Measure and record embodied carbon of new developments and major refurbishments.
4. Maximize emissions reductions for all new developments and major refurbishments in the pipeline to ensure delivery of net-zero carbon (operational and embodied) by selected final target year
5. Drive energy optimization across both existing assets and new developments
6. Maximize supply of on-site renewable energy.
7. Ensure 100% off-site energy is procured from renewable-backed sources, where available
8. Engage with stakeholders with whom you have influence in your value chain to reduce scope 3 emissions
9. Compensate for any residual emissions by purchasing high-quality carbon offsets
10. Engage with stakeholders to identify joint endeavours and equitably share costs and benefits of interventions
Organizations that formally adopt the Principles will report progress annually as defined in the below Reporting & Accountability Guidance. This reporting is meant to support organizations with implementation by ensuring targets are on track to be met as planned. The Guidance signposts to the most common reporting frameworks.
