Yesterday at the C40 Summit in Copenhagen, mayors of more than 90 of the world’s biggest cities voiced support for a Global Green New Deal. More a shared vision than a set of policies, the mayors set out how the world should seek to tackle climate change over what they consider a ‘critical decade’ for the planet’s future.
At its very heart, this vision sees investment, innovation, technology, and human endeavour leading us to a low-carbon world. This means creating new green energy sources – through renewables such wind, solar, and tidal power – while reducing global energy consumption as much as possible. This second point is where ROCKWOOL plays a vital role.
ROCKWOOL Group CEO Jens Birgersson said, “At this year’s C40 conference, I have been impressed by the ambition, commitment, and genuine desire for action to tackle global climate change. Improving the energy efficiency of buildings has been part of ROCKWOOL’s core mission for the past 80 years, and we will continue doing our part to help the world save as much energy as possible.”
Buildings account for 30 percent of the world’s energy demands, and reducing this consumption is included in all models that aim to keep global temperature rises within two degrees centigrade. Indeed, energy efficiency accounts on average for more than 40 percent of the carbon emission reductions needed to meet the goals established in the Paris Agreement. This puts insulation, as a key driver of building energy efficiency, among the most important technologies available to us today.
Improving the energy efficiency of buildings is also financially sound. Buildings can save up to almost 70 percent more emissions than the next most cost-effective sector for the same amount of money, according to the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change. Insulation plays a major role in reducing energy required to heat and cool buildings and – combined with other efficiency measures – can significantly reduce the energy consumption of buildings and lead to a very low emission level.
ROCKWOOL Senior Vice President Mirella Vitale noted, “Projections show that over 65 percent of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050, meaning that it’s essential to reduce the carbon footprint of cities as much as possible. As centres of population, education, and innovation it’s only right that cities should play a key part in addressing the climate change challenge.”
