The transition to a greener economy largely involves transforming the way buildings are constructed and inhabited. Improving building efficiency and reducing their environmental footprint is a widely shared goal among the States that signed the 2016 Paris Agreement, but progress has been slower than expected. Although the energy intensity of buildings has decreased by 8.5% between 2015 and 2024, this is three times less than what should have been achieved to meet the targets set a decade ago. This is highlighted in the Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction 2025-2026, prepared by the United Nations and published this Tuesday, which warns that the construction sector remains off track to reach the agreed goal, including in Europe, despite regulatory advances.
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“Momentum is stalling,” warn the report’s authors when analyzing the progress of decarbonization policies, noting that emissions associated with the daily use of buildings continue to rise when they should be rapidly decreasing. The report’s main criticism is not so much the absence of measures but their scope. The actions taken, the text emphasizes, are insufficient in intensity and speed to correct the current trajectory.
In fact, the path taken over the last decade shows noticeable, though still slight, improvement: globally, the energy intensity of buildings — which measures the annual energy consumption of a building relative to its area — has decreased by 8.5% between 2015 and 2024. However, this reduction should have been around 25% (almost three times more) to meet the Agreement’s goals. Still, during this same period, green building certifications have nearly tripled.
In the same vein of insufficient progress is the share of renewable energy in the energy supply for buildings. While its share has increased by 4.7% over the analyzed decade, reaching 17.3% in 2024, this represents only about a quarter of the increase needed during that period to stay on track toward the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. “The proportion of renewables in the energy supply for buildings has increased too slowly to remain aligned with climate goals,” the authors indicate.
The investment effort deployed by States reflects the same paradox affecting the entire sector. Since 2015, $2.3 trillion have been allocated to improving building energy efficiency, a high figure but clearly insufficient. The report estimates that an additional $3.6 trillion will need to be mobilized before 2030 to redirect the trajectory toward the net-zero emissions goal. In other words, accumulated investment in building energy efficiency must rise to $5.9 trillion in just five years.
To achieve much more significant progress and approach the set targets, the text points to the need to accelerate the deployment of solar photovoltaic installations, heat pumps, and district heating networks to reduce housing emissions, while improving energy security and affordability. It also notes that energy efficiency standards in construction are among the most effective tools to improve efficiency, reduce emissions, and strengthen resilience against climate change effects such as heatwaves, floods, and storms.
Although by mid-2025 energy efficiency standards in construction covered about 60% of new buildings worldwide, their application remains scarce in countries where construction growth is highest. “Housing and climate are not opposing priorities,” the document emphasizes. “When designed together, they reinforce each other.”
European Exception
In the global context, Europe stands as a partial exception. It is the only major region that has managed to reduce the energy consumption of its buildings since 2010: 18% less between 2010 and 2024, thanks to stricter efficiency standards and more contained growth of the real estate stock.
Some countries have made particularly remarkable progress during this time. This is the case of Sweden, Denmark, Greece, Slovenia, and Finland, which have reduced building emissions by between 57% and 72% since 2005, and could exceed 80% by 2030 if they maintain their current policies. The key, the report points out, has been regulatory stability combined with ambitious renovation and electrification programs. However, the report warns that Europe cannot be complacent. The decline in energy consumption has not yet translated into a sufficient drop in emissions, and the pace of renovation of the existing stock remains insufficient.
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