Humans across the world have to “move aggressively” from carbonized building materials, such as concrete, glass, and steel, when building their houses to so-called eco-friendly, regenerative materials to save the planet and combat climate change, suggests a report recently published by the United Nations (UN).
The German government-funded report argues that the world has to stop extracting and producing raw materials as “[t]he built environment sector is by far the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, responsible for at least 37 [percent] of the global emissions.”
Instead, houses should be constructed out of more environmentally friendly, “bio-based” materials, such as bamboo and agricultural and forest detritus, meaning sticks, leaves, mud, and whatever else can be scavenged from the ground. The UN justifies the radical switch by claiming in the report that “[b]efore the 20th century, the vast majority of cultures built large buildings and cities out of indigenous earthen, stone and bio-based materials – timber, cane, thatch, and bamboo.”
The UN accepts deep within the report that a shift from carbonized materials is likely to have “unintended consequences” to both ecosystems and labor practices, with major gains and losses inevitable as industries transition. Yet, the organization is willing to accept those risks provided it moves the world towards the international goal of “net zero.”
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