Global Building Emissions Tick Up as Urbanization Accelerates

Construction work on a commercial building in Stockholm, Sweden, on Thursday, April 16, 2026. The outlook for the largest Nordic nation's export-driven economy has darkened in recent weeks. Photo by Erik Flyg /Bloomberg

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(Bloomberg) — More than a decade after countries pledged in Paris to curb greenhouse gas emissions, pollution from the day-to-day operation of buildings — including heating, cooling and lighting homes and offices — continues to climb as rapid construction growth overwhelms gains in efficiency and renewable energy. 

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Buildings’ operational emissions rose 1% in 2024 to 9.9 gigatons of carbon dioxide, according to the Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction 2025-2026, released Tuesday by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction. Those emissions have climbed 6.5% since 2015 despite major investments in greener materials and energy-saving technologies. 

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Still, Martin Krause, director of UNEP’s climate change division, notes in the report’s foreword that efficiency improvements have slowed the growth in emissions as construction has risen. 

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“Over the past decade, global building floor area has expanded rapidly, while energy demand and emissions have grown more slowly,” Krause writes. “These gains show that the sector can grow while reducing its climate impact, and that policies, markets and technology can align.” 

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The findings underscore a central challenge for climate policy: Operational emissions are rising because the world is adding buildings faster than it is making them clean.

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Investment in building energy efficiency reached about $275 billion in 2024, up 38% from 2015. But the sector will need an additional $3.6 trillion in cumulative investment by 2030 to align with a global net-zero pathway, the report’s authors estimate. 

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Since 2015, global building floor area has expanded 20% while energy demand has risen 11%, fueled by rapid urbanization and housing growth, especially in India and Southeast Asia. 

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At the same time, energy consumption per square meter fell 8.5%. Without efficiency gains, energy demand would have risen roughly twice as much, according to the report. Even so, the sector remains “off track from the path to full decarbonization by 2050.”

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The report, now in its 10th edition, points to other persistent difficulties in decarbonizing a sector responsible for a large share of the world’s emissions. Buildings generate climate pollution through heating, cooling and lighting, and the materials used to construct them also have a significant carbon footprint. Cement, steel and aluminum in buildings accounted for about 9% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2024, according to International Energy Agency estimates cited in the report. 

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Those emissions have remained stuck at roughly 2.1 gigatons of CO2 for years, even as renewable energy expands worldwide. 

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Meanwhile, the world’s building stock continues to grow rapidly. Floor area increased 1.7% in 2024 alone — equivalent to adding an urban area roughly four times the size of New York City. 

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Residential buildings account for more than three-quarters of global floor area and about 70% of building energy demand. Governments face mounting pressure to expand housing supply and affordability while improving efficiency and resilience to climate risks.