Building fast. Falling short.

The global status report for buildings and construction (Buildings-GSR), published by UNEP and the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC) provides an annual global snapshot of progress to decarbonise and make the buildings and construction sector more resilient. It reviews the status of policies, finance, technologies and solutions to monitor alignment with the Paris Agreement goals. The global buildings and construction sector provides essential infrastructure for human well-being and economic activity, is an economic powerhouse and at the same time a major contributor to climate change. 

The key takeaways from the report include: 

• Amid increasing climate risks, it is crucial to ensure that new and existing buildings are futureproof, resilient and adaptable.
• To identify communities, buildings and other infrastructure that face existing and future climate risks and to develop adequate adaptation solutions to address them, governments should collect and monitor data on hazard exposure, structural vulnerability and adaptation capacity.
• To identify the exposure of women, children, elderly persons and people with disabilities to climate risks in buildings, particularly in informal settlements and inadequate housing, governments should develop gender-responsive resilience planning, data collection, and design stan