UKGBC joins industry leaders calling for Government to regulate embodied carbon 

11 industry and built environment expert bodies call on party leaders to commit to enacting embodied carbon regulation within the first six months of taking office after the next General Election.

Ahead of an election expected this year, leading industry voices have come together with a new Policy Position Paper to call on the UK’s political parties to finally get a grip of embodied carbon in the built environment.  

Despite totalling more than 64 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually – greater than the UK’s aviation and shipping emissions combined – measurement and reporting of embodied carbon in construction remains staggeringly unregulated. A whole life carbon perspective is urgently needed across the industry to ensure comprehensive decarbonisation on out path to net zero.  

UKGBC joins the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE), Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), Construction Industry Council (CIC), Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), UK Architects Declare, RIBA, RICS, Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE), and Part Z in calling on political leaders to urgent reform the regulation and management of embodied carbon. 

Louise Hutchins, Head of Policy for UKGBC says:

With time running out to keep global temperatures to 1.5C it’s astounding that 1 in 10 tonnes of UK climate emissions are still unregulated. From Europe to California, embodied carbon emissions are already regulated so we know it’s feasible. And we know from our members that industry is keen to play its part, but it needs government to set a nationwide approach to drive action at scale and pace.” 

While industry-led initiatives have made progress in the space, supported by hundreds of businesses ranging from housebuilders to financial institutions, this latest call focuses on the need for consistency and acceleration that can only be provided by Government action.  

IstructE, UKGBC, and our partners are calling for three specific steps: 

  1.  Within six months of taking office: policy signalled confirming the dates and interventions below. 
  2. By 2026: Mandate the measurement and reporting of whole-life carbon emissions for all projects with a gross internal area of more than 1000m2 or that create more than 10 dwellings. 
  3. By 2028: Introduce legal limits on the upfront embodied carbon emissions of such projects, with a view to future revision and tightening as required. 

These steps complement UKGBC’s recommendations previously set out in the Whole Life Carbon Roadmap, launched at COP26, which sets out how the UK’s pathway to net zero carbon will affect embodied carbon emissions through design efficiency, material reuse, and other transformative impacts.  

Policy & Advocacy

UKGBC works with our members and with policymakers at all levels across the UK to advocate for a built environment that meets the challenges of the climate and ecological crises
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Embodied Carbon

Embodied carbon from the construction and refurbishment of buildings currently makes up 20% of UK built environment emissions. While many leading developers and infrastructure organisations measure and optimise the embodied carbon footprint of their projects, it is far from being mainstream practice. UKGBC’s Advancing Net Zero team is working with experts across the industry to change this.
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