A NEW construction and real estate lobby group yesterday added its voice to the growing push for industries to implement sustainable operations, as new data showed how unsustainable economic activities are aiding climate change.
The Green Building Council of Zimbabwe (GBCZ) said it was crucial for industries to balance between profit and protecting the environment, as economies move to tackle climate change.
GBCZ chairperson Mike Eric Juru warned that the “world is on fire”.
He said much of the worries that have unsettled the globe were stemming out of industrial emissions including energy production, making it crucial for industries to take steps to stem a further crisis.
“We look forward to our industry embracing the green revolution and create a green economy enhancing global decarbonisation initiatives,” Juru told a conference in Harare.
“The built environment requires materials that are environmentally friendly, recyclicable, reusable and which enhance energy efficiency. The world is on fire, the rising sea levels, incessant pandemics, droughts, high temperatures, cyclones are there for everyone to endure. We are, indeed, exposed to the vagaries of climate change,” Juru said.
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He spoke as worries over a gruelling power crisis in Zimbabwe escalated, with both industrial and domestic consumers enduring up to 22 hours of rolling blackouts, which have been blamed on recurring droughts in the Zambezi River basin.
The country relies on the Kariba South Hydroelectric Power Plant, which provides over 50% of its power requirements, but has been affected by drought.
Data released during the conference showed that 40% of greenhouse gas was being emitted by construction industries.
“The lowest hanging fruit in climate mitigation and adaptation is dealing with the built environment,” Juru said.
“In 2021, the operation of buildings accounted for 30% of global final energy consumption and 27% of total energy sector emissions (8% being direct emissions in buildings and 19% indirect emissions from the production of electricity and heat used in buildings). The expectation out there is, armed with those facts, a roadmap (to tackle climate change) will be crafted and followed going forward,” he said.
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, today we take our first baby step with a clear goal — to decarbonise the built environment, to achieve net zero in the built environment,” Juru added.
GBCZ was officially accredited to the World Green Building Council in December 2022 becoming a co-member of other 77 GBC spread across the globe and 15 located in Africa.
A United Nations Development Programme official told the conference that it is important for industries to embrace sustainable business methods to save the globe.
Stock exchanges and other regulators have come up with policies requiring industries to produce sustainable reports, as part of measures to tackle climate change.
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