Rethinking Our Pathways towards Sustainable Built Environment: Are We Failing?

Climate change has brought unprecedented devastating impacts on the planet and human lives, with several new records hit in 2022 and 2023. Global carbon emissions which are widely recognised as the main cause of global warming also set a new high. Current and historical carbon emissions of leading economies and developing countries are examined, reflecting substantial emission gaps in 2030 due to less than satisfactory progress of governments in implementing their targets. Worldwide countries are urged to increase their commitments to shift onto a path of decarbonisation to align the emissions trajectories with net zero targets with strengthening policy implementation. Being one of the biggest greenhouse gas emitters, the built environment has a central role to tackle global climate crises. A wide range of sustainable policies, industry standards and interventions have been developed over the past few decades to transform the built environment. Notwithstanding pronounced improvement due to an increase in green finance and advancement in technological solutions, the overall progress of the built environment remains modest with a significant off track from the trajectory. A radical transformation towards sustainability is necessitated.