Towards sufficiency and solidarity: COP27 implications for construction and property

Abstract

With COP27 being held in Egypt, a non-Western country, poorer and adversely impacted societies will demand a stronger say in negotiations. There is increased pressure on the rich to dramatically reduce their emissions, provide reparation for past damage and exploitation, and assist poorer nations to improve social livelihoods. Such a new world order will require that global inequity in resource consumption be placed in the spotlight, with fair shares demanded for all. Calling for drastic and urgent action and a paradigm shift to contain warming to 1.5°C, the 2022 IPCC report Climate Change 2022 emphasised the need for ‘sufficiency’ to avoid demand for resources while providing wellbeing for all within planetary limits. However, responses to date have been grossly inadequate, amid continued economic growth and policies based upon resource efficiency, renewables and a circular economy. This is most evident in the construction and property sectors, where high rates of new construction continue in both the Global North and South, while claiming this is green and carbon neutral. Bolder, more ambitious policies are proposed that seek to rebalance construction to suit needs, not wants, and especially to restrain the excesses of the property industry driven by financialisation.