Estate Living Magazine #liveyourbestlife - Issue 46 December 2019 | Page 38

D E V E L O P
&
I N V E S T
NET ZERO
CARBON
BUILDINGS COMMITMENT
The Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment
puts extra responsibility on developers to
reduce their carbon footprint, right from the
planning stage.
As more signatories add their names to the Net Zero Carbon
Buildings Commitment, South African developers are reflecting on
what it means for them – and for the building industry.
Thursday 13 September 2018 was a big day for the future of the
planet. That’s the day when, at the Global Climate Action Summit
in San Francisco, California, the World Green Building Council
officially launched its Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment. In a
bold statement of environmental intent, the document was signed
by 38 signatories, made up of 12 businesses, 22 cities and four states
and regions. Within a year, 63 more signatories had added their
names to the list.
The commitment promised drastic action. Each signatory vowed
to eliminate operational carbon emissions from their building
portfolios (which collectively make up more than 10.7 million square
metres) by 2030, and to eliminate a cumulative total of 209 million
tonnes of carbon emissions equivalent (CO 2 e) from their buildings
by 2050. As the World Green Building Council pointed out, that’s
the same as taking 44.7 million cars off the road for a year.
South Africa’s four largest metros – the municipalities of Tshwane,
Johannesburg, Cape Town and eThekwini – were all among the
original signatories. As members of the C40 network, they’re