City Toolkit: The role of local government in advancing a just transition in the built environment

Around the world, local governments are developing policies to decarbonise the built environment to achieve their net zero goals - from incentives for building retrofits to regulations mandating heat pumps.

As these policies are rolled out, social impacts vary considerably: some initiatives are helping those most in need, while others are exacerbating inequality, facing pushback from communities who feel left behind.

Local governments are uniquely positioned to ensure these policies tackle inequality as well as reduce carbon emissions, bringing everyone on board and thereby accelerating the green transition.

This toolkit identifies six key tools, each providing guidance and practical examples to help local governments ensure the green transition is grounded in human rights and is just: reducing inequality, minimising harm and expanding opportunities for all workers and city residents. 

Download the city toolkit

The Building for today and the Future project

Decisions about what gets built, where and how have major implications for people’s lives now and for many years to come. 

The Building for Today and the Future project aims to strengthen pathways to just climate action in the built environment with a focus on measures to reduce emissions from buildings and construction, and to strengthen resilience in ways that ensure: the right to adequate housing; construction workers’ rights; non-discrimination and spatial justice; and meaningful participation.