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Embodied Carbon Emissions

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dc.contributor.authorChen, Tao
dc.contributor.authorDeuskar, Chandan
dc.date.accessioned2025-04-17T16:12:45Z
dc.date.available2025-04-17T16:12:45Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.description.abstractThe United Nation (UN) projects that 2.5 billion more people will live in cities by 2050, up from 4.4 billion today. Of the growing global population, most will come from the urban areas of low- and middle-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, with Sub-Saharan African cities currently already seeing a 4.1 percent growth in population annually. African cities need to construct an estimated 56 million additional housing units to meet demand. The construction of this volume of new buildings and accompanying urban infrastructure involves significant embodied carbon emissions, i.e., emissions stemming from manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance, and disposal of building materials. While public discourse often centers around curtailing operational emissions, for example through energy efficiency and low-carbon energy supply, embodied emissions may surpass operational emissions, depending on the project. There has been limited research comparing operational and embodied emissions at the scale of entire cities, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. However, rough calculations suggest that in certain cases, embodied emissions may approach or even exceed the volume of operational emissions, for example in rapidly expanding cities with relatively low operational emissions due to mild climates, low household incomes, or renewable sources of grid electricity. This note is intended as an introduction to the subject of embodied emissions, aimed at urban decision-makers in low- and middle-income countries, including government officials, urban planners, advisors from international organizations, and others. It assesses prevailing practices within the construction industry and delves into several options to mitigate embodied emissions associated with construction. The annex also provides an overview on tools that can aid in estimating the environmental impact of various construction standards and policies.en
dc.identifierhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099082624012526451
dc.identifier.doi10.1596/43086
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10986/43086
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherWashington, DC: World Bank
dc.relation.ispartofseriesCity Climate Finance Gap Fund Technical Note
dc.rightsCC BY-NC 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holderWorld Bank
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/igo
dc.subjectCARBON EMISSIONS
dc.subjectLOW AND MIDDLE INCOME
dc.subjectMANUFACTURING
dc.subjectDISPOSAL OF BUILDING MATERIALS
dc.subjectEMISSIONS
dc.subjectCONSTRUCTION
dc.titleEmbodied Carbon Emissionsen
dc.typeWorking Paper
dspace.entity.typePublication
okr.crossref.titleEmbodied Carbon Emissions
okr.date.disclosure2025-04-17
okr.date.doiregistration2025-04-20T02:17:53.277249Z
okr.date.doiregistration2025-05-02T02:23:29.941206Z
okr.date.doiregistration2025-06-03T02:10:41.526805Z
okr.date.doiregistration2025-06-04T02:10:25.220066Z
okr.date.doiregistration2025-06-05T02:10:19.858686Z
okr.date.lastmodified2025-04-16T18:04:50Zen
okr.doctypeWorking Paper
okr.doctypePublications & Research
okr.docurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099082624012526451
okr.guid099082624012526451
okr.identifier.docmidP174764-f976515e-94c1-461d-bf31-fc706cd09738
okr.identifier.externaldocumentum34381315
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum34381315
okr.identifier.report193256
okr.import.id7143
okr.importedtrueen
okr.language.supporteden
okr.pdfurlhttps://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099082624012526451/pdf/P174764-f976515e-94c1-461d-bf31-fc706cd09738.pdfen
okr.region.administrativeThe World Region
okr.topicEnvironment::Carbon Policy and Trading
okr.topicUrban Development
okr.topicIndustry::Construction Industry
okr.unitInfra - Urban Global Department (IDUGD)
relation.isAuthorOfPublicationaec2b5a0-c0a3-4ac0-b87c-87932c0d015a
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscoveryaec2b5a0-c0a3-4ac0-b87c-87932c0d015a
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