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ICLEI joins call for ambitious EU strategy for a Sustainable Built Environment


9 Apr 2021


ICLEI joins call for ambitious EU strategy for a Sustainable Built Environment

ICLEI has joined a coalition of 31 stakeholders calling on the European Commission to deliver an ambitious EU strategy for a Sustainable Built Environment (SSBE) as part of its implementation of the Circular Economy Action Plan.

In a letter addressed to the European Commission’s Executive Vice President Frans Timmermans, and to Commissioners Thierry Breton and Virginijus Sinkevičius, the 31 signatories note that, in the EU, buildings and the construction industry accounts for 40 percent of energy consumption, 36 percent of CO2 emissions, 50 percent of raw materials, and 33 percent of waste and water use. As such, “Citizens and the market expect a strong signal that the European Commission is ready to drastically reduce these figures towards 2030 and 2050 respectively.”

The 31 signatories worry that one year after the launch of the Circular Economy Action Plan, there is no clear timeline yet for an EU Strategy for a Sustainable Built Environment and that the European Commission is even openly questioning its intentions to go ahead with such a strategy. Thus, they urge the Comission to “deliver the EU Strategy for a Sustainable Built Environment in 2021 as a priority” and to coordinate a transition to sustainable buildings in the EU that is in line with the Paris Agreement and with EU law.

Public procurement has the potential to play an important role in the transition to a more sustainable built environment, through the implementation of sustainable procurement criteria in construction tender calls. Such criteria include the use of environmental management systems for contractors, use of lower impact materials and methods, life cycle costing, and waste reduction and management.

For more information on how ICLEI is implementing circular procurement in the built environment, read up on the CityLoops project here.


Image (Pixabay)


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