Global Construction Industry Faces Mounting Climate Change Challenges
With the infrastructure boom set to fuel global economic growth over the next decade, the construction industry must address the mounting pressures associated with climate change and the race to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions (net zero), according to a report published by Marsh and Guy Carpenter, both businesses of Marsh McLennan, the world’s leading professional services firm in the areas of risk, strategy and people. According to the report, global construction output is expected to grow by 6.6% in 2021 and by 42% by 2030, driven largely by government stimuli and the demand for residential construction. As the sector grows, however, so too does the risk of greater pollution and waste, the report warns. Construction and the wider built environment currently accounts for around 40% of the world’s global greenhouse gas emissions. Climate change and the race to net-zero are arguably the greatest challenges that face the construction industry, according to the report. The need to radically reduce the amount of carbon embedded in new construction will drive the growth of a deconstruction industry that reuses huge existing urban stockpiles of construction materials, the report predicts. Richard Gurney, Global Head of Construction, Marsh Specialty, commented: “Climate change and the ESG agenda – and the risks and opportunities they present – are among the biggest challenges the global construction industry faces over the next decade. These forces are changing risk profiles for the sector. Organisations must adapt in order to harness the sector’s massive potential for growth while playing a pivotal role in the advancement of economies and communities around the world.” Simon Liley, Co-Head, Global Engineering, Guy Carpenter, added: “The construction and engineering industry is entering a period of exciting opportunity but also one that will require new ways of approaching risk by the insurance and reinsurance sectors. These dynamics call for effective knowledge sharing from industry innovators at one end all the way through to reinsurance actuaries at the other. Understanding the shifting profile of exposure, technology, and sources of capital will be important to enable insurers and reinsurers to establish underwriting platforms and offer products that meet the construction industry’s changing needs.”
Tags : INTERNATIONAL construction technology Climate Change Built Environment Global Economic Growth Pollution and Waste Greenhouse Gas Emissions