European construction industry’s new manifesto calls for ‘radical change’ to tackle climate challenge

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A group of bodies representing Europe’s construction industry have called for the adoption of a circular business model to achieve carbon and resource neutrality, as COP 28 draws to a close.

European International Contractors (EIC), the European Construction Industry Federation (FIEC), and the European Network of Construction Companies for Research and Development (ENCORD) have released a new manifesto calling for a review and modernisation of the regulatory landscape in construction.

The manifesto advocates a shift from the linear to a circular business model to “drastically” reduce waste production and raw material consumption. Some 90% of primary resources will need to be reused to achieve carbon and resource neutrality by 2050, requiring “radical changes” across the industry and “unprecedented collaboration”, the three bodies said.

They claimed the changes proposed in their manifesto would support transformation in the sector, based on six ‘pillars’. These are:

• Resources – Materials should be reviewed for re-use potential and processes with regard to efficient use of space, prefabrication and assembly should be redesigned.
• Procurement – Catalysing change by introducing innovative contracting models and collaborative working.
• Financing – Ensure financing works together with other stakeholders in managing risk and ensuring that it supports the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) objectives.
• Energy – Reducing energy use in construction and deploying Carbon Capture, Storage and Utilisation (CCSU) can radically change the embodied carbon in new infrastructure, the manifestos authors claimed.
• People – People need to be supported by a collaborative culture to foster high performance and innovation.
• Data – It stressed that digital data is “key” to developing connected information models, i.e. digital twins of real assets and is “essential” to enable all stakeholders to plan, design, build, operate and decommission collaboratively.

Christina Claeson-Jonsson, chair of ENCORD / NCC head of research & innovation said, “The construction industry must transition towards becoming less wasteful and decouple the growth of a robust construction sector from the increasing use of raw materials. It is imperative that we unite and take the necessary steps towards a more sustainable business model. Government regulation across Europe is required to ensure that all parties involved in every link of the construc1on chain are moving in the right direction.”

Benoît Chauvin, president of EIC and Colas Group vice president, business development said, “We believe that contractors across the European construction industry should increase and speed up investments and take much wider responsibility and leadership in harnessing the skills and resources of the whole construc1on value chain and all stakeholders to restore our environment and transform our economy.”

Philip Crampton, president of FIEC said, “We, as an industry need to decouple economic growth from the resource use with the aim of restoring natural capital that has been destroyed over time, while maintaining the competitiveness of our companies. Our six-point action plan is based on integrated stakeholder collaboration and a circular business model that minimises the use of new resources and production of waste. To achieve this, investment in training to up-skill and re-skill our workforce is essential.”