Building Green: Sustainable Construction in Emerging Markets

Building Green: Sustainable Construction in Emerging Markets was prepared through close collaboration between IFC economists, investment officers, and building and construction sector specialists.

The report provides a comprehensive analysis of the challenges of reducing carbon emissions from construction value chains in developing countries and the considerable opportunities that will come from mobilizing the estimated $1.5 trillion of investment required for this transition

Construction value chains in emerging markets are a major contributor to global CO2 emissions, and the problem is set to get worse by 2035. Construction value chains account for about 40 percent of energy and industrial-related CO2 emissions globally.

These value chains comprise the construction and operation of buildings and the production of materials. This report estimates that the operation of buildings explains about 20 percent of global carbon emissions, followed by the supply of materials (19 percent), and construction services (0.3 percent) (Exhibit A).

About 85 percent of total construction emissions globally come from the use of fossil fuels in buildings and materials plants while the remaining 15 percent comes from process or industrial emissions related to the production of construction materials.

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