The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has released a new ground-breaking report titled "Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication". Chapters pertaining to the Building and Manfuacturing sectors seek to make an economic case for investing in “greening” efforts and aim to provide policymakers with guidance on how to mobilize such investments. The report demonstrates how green investments in these sectors can create jobs and contribute to economic growth, while addressing environmental issues, in a pro-poor and equitable manner.
Buildings: Investing in Energy and Resource Efficiency (Key Messages)
- The Buildings sector of today has an oversized footprint. The buildings sector is the single largest contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), with approximately one-third of global energy end use taking place within buildings. Further, the construction sector is responsible for more than a third of global resource consumption, including 12% of all fresh water use, and significantly contributes to the generation of solid waste, estimated at 40% of total volume.
- Constructing new green buildings and retrofitting existing energy- and resource-intensive buildings stock can achieve significant savings. Various projections indicate that investments ranging from $300B-$1T (depending on assumptions used) per year to 2050 can achieve savings of about one-third in energy consumption in buildings world-wide and significantly contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions needed to attain the “benchmark” 450 ppm concentration of GHGs. To reduce 3.5 gigatons (Gt) of emissions through increased energy efficiency, the average abatement cost would be negative at -$35 per ton, reflecting energy cost savings, compared to -$10 per ton in the transport sector or positive abatement cost in the power sector of $20 per ton.
- Greening buildings also brings significant health and productivity benefits. Greening buildings can also contribute significantly to health, livability and productivity improvements. The increased productivity of workers in green buildings can yield savings higher than those achieved from energy efficiency, which are themselves considerable.
- Greening the building sector can lead to an increase in jobs. Investments in improved energy efficiency in buildings could generate an additional 3.5 million green jobs in Europe and the USA alone. Various studies point to job creation through different types of activities, for example new construction and retrofitting, production of resource efficient materials and appliances, the expansion of renewable energy sources and services such as recycling and waste management.
Manufacturing: Investing in Energy and Resource Efficiency (Key Messages)
- As currently configured, manufacturing has a large impact on the economy and the environment. Manufacturing is responsible for around 35% of global electricity use, over 20% of CO2 emissions and over a quarter of primary resource extraction. Manufacturing currently accounts for 23% of global employment.
- Key resource scarcities – including limited recoverable oil reserves, metal ores, and water – will challenge the sector. As industries resort to lower-grade ores, more energy is required to extract useful metal content. Improved recovery and recycling will increasingly become a decisive factor for both economic performance and environmental sustainability. The same applies to water use, which is expected to grow to over 20% of total global demand by 2030.
- Key components of a supply-side strategy include remanufacturing and the recycling of heat waste through combined heat and power installations. Closed-cycle manufacturing extends the lifespan of manufactured goods and reduces the need for virgin materials. Repair, reconditioning, remanufacturing and recycling are fairly labor-intensive activities, requiring relatively little capital investment. Remanufacturing operations worldwide save about 10.7 million barrels of oil each year, or an amount of electricity equal to that generated by five nuclear power plants.
- While direct job effects of greening manufacturing may be neutral or small, the indirect effects are significantly higher. Manufacturing has become increasingly automated and efficient, which has been accompanied by job losses. This can be countered by life-cycle approaches and secondary production, for example in the form of recycling, to secure jobs, for which safe and decent working conditions are paramount.
- Green-investment-scenario modeling for manufacturing suggests considerable improvements in energy efficiency can be achieved. By 2050, projections indicate that industry can practically “decouple” energy use from economic growth, particularly in the most energy-intensive industries. Green investment will also increase employment in the sector.
http://hqweb.unep.org/greeneconomy/GreenEconomyReport/tabid/29846/Default.aspx
