In collaboration with Accenture Reducing Embodied Carbon in Cities: Nine Solutions for Greener Buildings and Communities WHITE PAPER APRIL 2024 Images: Getty Images, Pexels, Unsplash Contents Foreword 3 Executive summary 4 1 Four stages of embodied carbon 6 2 Existing challenges for cities 7 2.1  Regulatory and policy constraints 7 2.2  Ecosystem challenges 8 2.3  Barriers to innovation 8 3 Nine global solutions 3.1  Adopting enabling policy frameworks and regulations 10 10 Solution 1: Requirements for low-carbon materials 10 Solution 2: Mandates for whole-life carbon assessments 13 Solution 3: Executive orders for clean construction 15 3.2  Strengthening the low embodied carbon ecosystem 18 Solution 4: Large-scale adaptive reuse 18 Solution 5: Citywide circular economy strategy 20 Solution 6: Programmes to electrify heavy transport  and machinery 22 3.3  Spurring innovation 24 Solution 7: Innovation hub for clean construction 24 Solution 8: Programmes for residential deconstruction  and workforce development 26 Solution 9: Online marketplace for a circular built  environment 28 Conclusion 30 Contributors 31 Endnotes 32 Disclaimer This document is published by the World Economic Forum as a contribution to a project, insight area or interaction. The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed herein are a result of a collaborative process facilitated and endorsed by the World Economic Forum but whose results do not necessarily represent the views of the World Economic Forum, nor the entirety of its Members, Partners or other stakeholders. © 2024 World Economic Forum. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system. Reducing Embodied Carbon in Cities: Nine Solutions for Greener Buildings and Communities 2 April 2024 Reducing Embodied Carbon in Cities: Nine Solutions for Greener Buildings and Communities Foreword Jeff Merritt Head of Centre for Urban Transformation; Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum Cities are at the forefront of climate action. More than half of the global population lives in cities, consuming over 78% of the world’s core energy and generating 70% of carbon emissions. The built environment, including the operations and construction of building and infrastructure, is the single largest contributor to global CO2 emissions, generating about 40% of total emissions.1 As urban populations expand, construction is essential for cities to accommodate this growth, but it also poses a challenge: how to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to both construction and demolition, known as embodied carbon. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development reports that, of a building’s wholelife carbon footprint, as much as half comes from embodied carbon,2 which encompasses all of the GHG emissions associated with production and movement of the materials used in construction and demolition (as opposed to the amount of energy used for daily operations). As operational building efficiency continues to improve, embodied carbon is quickly becoming the critical driver of emissions associated with the construction industry. Yet most of us are only beginning to understand the solutions that are central to assessing and reducing the environmental impacts of building products both before, during and after construction. Jennifer Holmes Global Cities, Transportation & Infrastructure Lead, Accenture To help drive progress in this area, this report explores existing challenges to wide-scale adoption and implementation of low or zero embodied carbon practices during all phases of building construction. In addition, the report highlights nine innovative solutions that seek to address the issue of embodied carbon and which provide a range of additional benefits, including workforce development, standardization of policies and regulations, and technological advances in clean construction. The intention is for cross-sector leaders to be able to replicate and implement these solutions according to the local context. The report is the result of a joint effort by the World Economic Forum and Accenture to support collaboration in the private and public sectors to drive sustainable impact for all stakeholders and develop solutions to reduce car