Alliance between major bodies set to drive transformational change in the global built environment

The international alliance between the UK-based Building Research Establishment (BRE), Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is welcoming four new partners as it aims to unlock the sustainable finance needed for the built environment to meet its climate goals.

These include the Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC), GRESB, the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI), and the Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor (CRREM).

The first in a series of milestones for the partnership, the alliance will publish next month a practical guide: Financing Transformation: A Guide to Green Building for Green Bonds and Green Loans. The guide will show how verification and certification schemes ensure compliance with multiple sustainable classification frameworks used globally, such as the EU and UK green taxonomies, and how they can be used to put the built environment on a 1.5C trajectory.

With the SGBC joining the alliance, the Green Mark certification scheme will be incorporated into the practical guide. This means that rating systems used across every continent will be included showing how these can be used to unlock sustainable finance towards green buildings.

Having GRESB and CBI as supporting partners means that the alliance is backed by the key players that investors, banks, and issuers rely on to demonstrate the sustainable credentials of their portfolios and debt instruments.

Meanwhile, CRREM’s participation ensures that as the collaboration continues, that there is clear alignment with key science-based decarbonisation trajectories for the built environment.

The alliance will hold an event during London Climate Action Week on the 27^th June 2024 – Uniting the global built environment to drive climate action – at The View in The Royal College of Surgeons, London to mark the publication of the official guide. The event will bring together individuals, organisations and communities with a focus on sustainable development as they discuss ways to accelerate global climate action.

The first in a series of milestones for the partnership, the event will also see the official publication of a practical guide: Financing Transformation: A Guide to Green Building for Green Bonds and Green Loans. The guide will show how verification and certification schemes ensure compliance with multiple sustainable classification frameworks used globally, such as the EU and UK green taxonomies, and how they can be used to put the built environment on a 1.5C trajectory.

With the Singapore Green Building Council and the German Sustainable Building Council joining the alliance, the former’s Green Mark certification scheme and the latter’s DGNB Certification system will be incorporated into the practical guide. This means that rating systems used across every continent will be included showing how these can be used to unlock sustainable finance towards green buildings.

Having GRESB and CBI as supporting partners means that the alliance is backed by the key players that investors, banks, and issuers rely on to demonstrate the sustainable credentials of their portfolios and debt instruments.

Meanwhile, CRREM’s participation ensures that as the collaboration continues, that there is clear alignment with key science-based decarbonisation trajectories for the built environment.