The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the Yale Center for Ecosystems + Architecture have released the report Building Materials and the Climate: Building a New Future.

The report highlights the urgent need for innovative cooperation on the decarbonisation of the construction industry, whose key strategies should include as follows:

• avoiding unnecessary extraction and production;
  
• transition to renewable materials;
• decarbonizing traditional materials.

You can find the text of the report (in English) HERE.

Specialists of the Interstate Consultants Engineers Guild analyzed the document in detail in the context of possibilities and ways to implement the given recommendations in domestic construction practice.

Given the ambitious plans for the reconstruction of Ukraine, we find it appropriate to consider the possibility of stimulating the development of the sustainable construction sector, namely:

•  developing standards and certification system for “sustainable buildings”;
• making changes to the state housing programs regarding preferential lending for the purchase of housing, which will meet the above standards;
• allocating a part of the funds provided for the reconstruction to insure the risks of investors who will invest in new and modernize the existing production of building materials, which are in short supply on the Ukrainian market and which are imported;
• finalizing the legislative framework and launching the green bond market, which will enable state and private enterprises, as well as municipalities, to attract funds for green infrastructure, production and housing projects;
• legislatively providing priority for materials that meet environmental requirements in procurement made with state and municipal funds;
• initiating implementation of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards for corporate reporting on sustainable development, published by the European Commission in July 2023, which will affect Ukrainian enterprises operating on the European market or included in the production chains of European goods.

For more details on the report “Building Materials and Climate: Building a New Future” and our recommendations based on the results of its study, please see the abstract:

For reference. Environmental topic is always in ICEG agenda. In particular, in December 2022, together with the Association of Ukrainian Cities, ICEG held online forum dedicated to Green finance for the reconstruction and sustainable development of Ukrainian cities.