OUTCOME DOCUMENT OF THE LOCAL LEADERS ROUNDTABLE
ON DECARBONIZING BUILDINGSThis statement gathers calls from Local and Subnational government leaders brought together during
the closed-door Local Leaders Roundtable of the Buildings and Climate Global Forum and will informthe final Déclaration de Chaillot of the Forum. The Local Leaders Roundtable is supported by UNEP
and UN-Habitat, in partnership with OECD, C40, the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy,
WRI, FMDV, Under2 Coalition, Climate Chance.

The Buildings and Climate Global Forum brings together ministers and high-levelrepresentatives of key organizations in an effort to spur the decarbonization of thebuildings sector. The event is the first of its kind and will follow up on progress made at
the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28).
On March 7th, the Local Government Roundtable brought together 20 local and subnational
government leaders in a closed-door roundtable to showcase the strong engagement oflocal governments to decarbonize buildings, including Mayors and leaders from 12 different
countries. This Outcome Document gathers a call from these leaders from around the globe
for better international cooperation, and for national governments to support local
governments in financial and technical capacity to accelerate action on building
decarbonization. It is to be delivered at the opening of the Ministerial plenary on 8th March
2024.
There has been an increasing global awareness that the climate battle will be lost or won incities. The narrative of cities and buildings are interlinked as the need for buildings isincreasing – and much of this will be in and around cities. Today, more than half of theworld’s population lives in urban areas and the urban share is expected to grow up to 68%
by 2050. In 2021, the buildings and construction sector accounts for 37% of energy andprocess-related CO2 emissions[1]. The climate impact of buildings is likely to increase in thecoming decades due to rapid growth, especially in urban areas in the Global South. Yet, thebuildings and construction sector is not on track to achieve decarbonization by 2050. It istherefore more urgent than ever to change the way humanity constructs and uses buildings.
The Local Leaders Roundtable presented a strong mobilization to showcase the importanceof local governments to decarbonize the built environment in an equitable and inclusive
way. The outcomes are put forward below:
1. Recognizing the fast-growing responsibility of buildings and embodied carbon in global CO2
emissions, and the need to decarbonize the buildings sector to advance sustainable urbandevelopment in line with the 2030 Agenda. Also recognizing that sustainable buildings andurban development need to be just, inclusive, and equitable, particularly to meet the needsof the most vulnerable groups.
2. Recognizing the leadership of local governments in the fight against the climate crisis,
implementing climate action on the ground, using levers including procurement, policymaking, integrated urban planning and financial incentives. Also recognizing that local
governments have taken action to improve the sustainability and resilience of buildings,
adapted to the specific local contexts, climatic conditions, and climate vulnerabilities.
3. Recognizing the 28 countries which endorsed the Buildings Breakthrough initiative,
championed by France and Morocco and committing to turning near-zero emission andresilient buildings into the new normal by 2030, further strengthening collective action forclimate change in the buildings sector.
4. Recognizing the increasing role of local and subnational governments in international
processes:a. Welcoming the multilateral agreements, including the Paris Agreement, the UAE
Consensus (including agreement by leaders to double energy efficiency by 2030), theSharm-El-Sheikh Implementation Plan and Glasgow Pact as well as the Sustainable
Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda, that recognize the importance ofengagement of all levels of governments and the urgent need for multilevel andcooperative action towards the achievement of the Paris Agreement objectives.
b. Welcoming the inclusion of local and subnational governments in international events,
such as the Local Climate Action Summit at COP28, the Ministerial Meeting on
Urbanization and Climate Change at COP27 and COP28 and the Sixth UN Environment
Assembly Cities and Regions Summit.
c. Recognizing also the multiple initiatives advocating for and accelerating the engagementof local governments in the Paris Agreement implementation, including the Sustainable
Urban Resilience for the Next Generation (SURGe) and the Subnational Climate Action
Leader’s Exchange (SCALE) initiatives launched at COP27, as well as the politicalcommitment of 72 Parties to the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships(CHAMP) at COP28 to enable local governments to contribute to further enhancing
Nationally Determined Contributions ahead of COP30 in 2025 and the Global Cooling
Pledge for subnational governments.

5. Welcoming the 158 countries mentioning buildings in their Nationally DeterminedContributions (NDCs), and 118 of them referring to energy efficiency as part of theiremissions reduction strategy and the 30 countries building Roadmaps towards a zero-carbon
and resilient buildings and construction sector.
6. Encouraging multilevel climate action to ensure that buildings contribute to reducing global
emissions, while adapting to the impacts of climate change
a. Encouraging all national governments to involve local and subnational governments,
alongside other stakeholders in dialogues and multilevel collaboration in the buildings
and construction value chain and, where applicable and appropriate.
b. Encouraging national governments to ensure policy coherence between the different
levels of government and to develop and implement policies that facilitate local
action on the ground, address operational and embodied emissions in buildings andthat help to decarbonize and build a resilient buildings and construction sector.
7. Encouraging national governments and international finance institutions to accelerate
deployment of climate finance to support local climate action and strengthen financial,technical and workforce skills capacities, as well as looking for civil society support.
8. Encouraging decision makers in the government, industry and finance sectors to embrace
the transformation of their sectors and to invest in innovation, technologies, products,
materials and services that promote energy-efficiency, low-carbon and sustainable
construction to accelerate building decarbonization.
9. Encouraging all parties to consider these outcomes as inputs for the Ministerial plenary on
8th March 2024 and as a continuity of the global efforts to achieve decarbonization andclimate change resilience in the buildings sector along with WUF12 in Cairo, COP29 andbeyond.
10. Welcoming a proposal for a global engagement mechanism for local and subnational
governments and other stakeholder to facilitate exchanges of experiences and best practices
on building decarbonization in an integrated, equitable and inclusive way; embedded within
the GlobalABC and SURGe initiatives, using tools such as sustainable procurement and urban
planning.
[1] From the 2022 Global Status Report for Buildings and Constructions of Global ABC

https://globalabc.org/our-work/tracking-progress-global-status-report