Abstract
The infrastructure construction sector is a significant source of carbon emissions, and more stringent procurement requirements are central to meeting reduction targets in this demand-led and project-based industry. This paper aims to analyze the implementation of international policies for reducing carbon emissions in infrastructure construction, focusing on the interaction between policy ambitions and procurement practices. Based on case studies of large projects and their contexts in five countries worldwide: Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden, the UK, and the US, a cross-country comparison is performed of how policies and practices for carbon reduction develop across multiple implementation levels. Three levels are included in the analysis: policy, industry, and project level. We identify the projects as either drivers of policy goals, frontrunners in industry-level development processes, or translators of national policy. These roles, and the associated pathways for carbon emission reduction, are context-specific and depend on the policy ambitions at the national or regional level, the maturity of the supplier market, and, often, on the strategies of individual champions at the project level. Long-term learning processes, both within and between the various levels, are essential for advancing carbon reduction.
Highlights
Following alarming reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), climate change has motivated policymakers globally to chart policies at different administrative levels to mitigate the increasing emissions of greenhouse gas; primarily pertaining to carbon emissions
This paper aims to analyze the translation of international policies for carbon emission reduction into the development of procurement rules and concrete carbon emission reduction practices in large-scale infrastructure projects in five countries worldwide: Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden, the UK, and the US
Based on Tukker and Ekins [37], who described three approaches to policy implementation for resource efficiency, focusing on market mechanisms, top-down governance, and bottom-up activities, we identified three roles that projects can assume in the implementation of carbon emission ambitions; indicating that we do not see reduction ambitions as a top-down enterprise
Summary
Following alarming reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), climate change has motivated policymakers globally to chart policies at different administrative levels to mitigate the increasing emissions of greenhouse gas; primarily pertaining to carbon emissions. As a part of the global ambitions of the United Nations. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) it is well-recognized that public and private actors are central to fulfilling these goals and ensuring actions on the ground, which has been emphasized even further in the Paris agreement [1]. There is a growing awareness of the significant environmental impact of the construction industry [2]. The building and infrastructure construction sector represents 38% of global carbon emissions [3]. Initiatives to reduce such emissions in the industry have mainly targeted improvements in energy efficiency during the operational life of buildings. Embodied carbon, which is released during manufacturing, transportation, construction, 4.0/)
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