Transition to low carbon

This is a part of the Climate action feature

By Dr Casimir MacGregor and Roman Jaques - 1 August 2018, Build 167

A united, international effort to reduce greenhouse gases has been a long time coming as this brief history of climate action shows. Now, as New Zealand explores transitioning to a low-carbon economy, BRANZ has a part to play.

CLIMATE CHANGE is a pressing issue not only for the building and construction sector but for all New Zealand and the wider world. It is vital that we transition to a low-carbon built environment, as the buildings we construct today all contribute to our obligations under the Paris Agreement by 2030 and beyond.

The built environment is a major contributor to climate change as it cuts across many sectors, such as transport, energy, materials and more. The thinkstep report (see Carbon footprint of buildings on pages 55–56) suggests that the built environment potentially contributes up to 20% of New Zealand’s carbon footprint and possibly even more.

Evidence began emerging in the 70s

It was not until the 1970s that it became evident that the environmental impact from climate change required a global response. The World Meteorological Organization began to express concern that human activity might lead to a warming of the lower atmosphere. The United Nations Environment Programme established the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to investigate, report on and develop possible responses to the issue.

Its first assessment report in 1990 fed into the drafting of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), signed by 166 nations at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992.

While the UNFCCC did not include specific national or international targets to reduce carbon or greenhouse gas emissions, it set out a number of principles important to international climate change processes. These are stabilising the climate due to anthropogenic interference and the need for countries to limit and take into account their greenhouse gas emissions.

Emissions targets established

The annual meeting of the UNFCCC has become known as the Conference of Parties (COP), with the first held in Berlin in 1995. After the Earth Summit, a growing tension developed due to the lack of specific targets. This changed in 1997 with COP3 in Kyoto, Japan, which saw the creation of the Kyoto Protocol. This helped to establish emissions targets for industrialised and developing countries – although many were non-binding – for 2008–2012.

Following the Kyoto Protocol, climate change continued to be a politically charged topic, especially with climate change denial in the face of scientific evidence. The IPCC’s fifth assessment in 2014 helped to outline clearly that the warming of the climate was unequivocal. ‘Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions have increased since the pre-industrial era, driven largely by economic and population growth, and ... anthropogenic drivers ... are extremely likely to have been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century’.

Coordinated international approach

The last significant meeting was COP21 in Paris in late 2015, which resulted in the Paris Agreement. A agreement for internationally coordinated action on climate change, it contained:

an ambitious collective goal to hold global warming well below 2°C of pre-industrial levels, with efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C
an aim for greenhouse gas emissions to peak as soon as possible and to achieve net-zero emissions in the second half of this century
a framework for enhanced transparency
a global stocktake from 2023 and every 5 years thereafter to review progress
a global goal of enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change.

Thus, an internationally coordinated approach to climate change and assistance to design national measures eventuated.

Emissions trading scheme is main local response

In recent years, New Zealand has set a number of greenhouse gas emission targets – the first in 1997 with a 2012 target at Kyoto COP3 and more recently in 2015 with a 2030 target at Paris COP21. Along with these international targets, a national target was set by the New Zealand Government in 2011, which aimed to reduce emissions to 50% below 1990 levels by 2050.

The Climate Change Response Act 2002 was amended in 2008 to initiate the New Zealand emissions trading scheme (ETS). The ETS commenced in 2008. The current ETS requires the energy, fishing, forestry, industrial processes, liquid fossil fuels, synthetic gases and waste sectors to report on and purchase and surrender units to the government.

An ETS unit can be traded and represents a tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent. The ETS essentially works by having greenhouse gas-emitting firms surrender units to the government annually, while those that remove greenhouse gases (such as those who plant and grow forests) can receive units. Compared internationally, the New Zealand ETS is unusual as there is no limit or cap on the number of units that are tradeable.

The ETS is currently New Zealand’s main response to climate change.

Options include Zero Carbon Bill

In 2018, the New Zealand Government is exploring options for climate action. One of the most promising is the adoption of a Zero Carbon Bill setting out a long-term commitment to transition to a low-emission and climate-resilient economy. Its overarching aim is to create an enduring plan for climate action that transcends party politics. As such, it would set a new 2050 target to assist the transition to a low-emission economy. Three possible targets have been set:

Net zero carbon dioxide by 2050.
Net zero long-lived gases and stabilised short-lived gases by 2050.
Net zero emissions by 2050.

In addition, the Zero Carbon Bill seeks to establish other mechanisms to help New Zealand’s transition. These include:

a possible introduction of emissions budgets
a climate change commission to provide independent, expert advice and help to keep track of progress
a focus on adaptation to climate change to help decision makers manage risks in a more systematic way.

BRANZ involved in climate action

BRANZ views building-related climate change research as extremely important for New Zealand to help drive evidence-based policy and provide expert advice. BRANZ has a history of engaging in climate change research since the year 2000 when it released the report Implications of Climate Change for the Construction Sector.

Today, it is continuing that legacy of climate change research. Along with helping to establish a research programme addressing how we can transition to a low-emissions built environment, BRANZ is undertaking two key research projects:

Carbon budget – this collaboration with the New Zealand Life Cycle Management Centre at Massey University aims to better quantify the greenhouse gas emissions made by New Zealand’s built environment. The project’s objective is to provide an absolute greenhouse gas emission design target for office and residential buildings (see What’s our carbon budget? on pages 58–59).
How can New Zealand construction deliver low to zero-impact buildings? This project seeks to better understand how our buildings contribute to climate change and other impacts and how we can reduce these impacts in terms of design and material choices.

Urgent action needed

Smart mitigation and adaptation responses providing the best pathways for significant, sustained and constructive climate action in the building sector are imperative. This requires urgent action. Transitioning to a low-carbon world will be challenging, but through active leadership, well targeted policy and robust research, successful change is possible.