Sustainability Street: Key Takeaways From COP28

Liz Beardsley, senior policy council, U.S. Green Building Council

In the sustainable community, there is no bigger annual event than Conference of the Parties or “COP.” The two-week U.N. Climate Change Conference draws delegates from around the globe to assess progress and commitments. The built environment, of course, is a key topic for discussion and resolutions.

Welcome Back to Sustainability Street, our podcast on the intersection of commercial real estate and the world we live in. For this episode, I chatted with Liz Beardsley, senior policy council, U.S. Green Building Council, upon her return from COP28 UAE in Dubai. This COP was not as historic as COP21, at which the Paris Agreement was signed, but it resulted in a number of milestones and announcements for world and for real estate.

USGBC President & CEO Peter Templeton delivering the results of a built environment progress report at COP28. Photo courtesy of USGBC

After you listen to the episode, check out State of Decarbonization: Progress in U.S. Commercial Buildings 2023, a report prepared by USGBC and Arup and released at the conference.

Here’s a sample of the topics covered:

• A dramatic finish (2:56)
• Can fossil fuels be tripled? (7:49)
• U.S. efforts on the global stage (9:15)
• Progress in the built environment (10:28)
• Embodied carbon commitments (14:41)
• A holistic approach to the climate crisis (18:49)

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