As the world faces the urgent need to reduce emissions and achieve carbon-neutrality, the buildings sector stands on the front lines of climate action: globally, buildings consume around 32% of energy and account for 34% of carbon dioxide emissions. In Europe, one-third of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings. These numbers make it clear: decarbonising our homes, workplaces, schools, hospitals and other infrastructure is essential for meeting our climate goals. In turn, it helps address the deeply entwined challenges of energy poverty, public health, energy security, job creation and relief from energy poverty —making building decarbonisation not only a climate imperative, but a social and economic one too. 

The urgency has been further underscored by three recent landmark reports: the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction’s (GlobalABC) latest assessment of progress in the sector (from which the global figures above are sourced), the third edition of the EU-level buildings tracker and the newly published Italian Buildings Climate Tracker, the first index to assess Italy’s decarbonisation efforts. These reports highlight the scale of the challenge and raise a critical question: where does the buildings sector stand in relation to its climate goals? 

At the heart of answering that question is BPIE. We’re pioneering the methodologies that make it possible to track progress in the built environment — globally, regionally, and nationally. These tools are essential for understanding not only how far we’ve come, but how far we still need to go, helping policymakers, industry, and the public course-correct and drive impact where it’s needed most. 

Laying the foundations for a cutting-edge tool 

BPIE has played an instrumental role in shaping the global discourse on buildings and climate action. As a founding member of the GlobalABC at COP21 in Paris, we’ve been key in securing its position as the global voice for transforming buildings in the fight against climate change. Since 2017, our Executive Director, Oliver Rapf, has served on the Alliance’s steering committee, helping guide its efforts toward a zero-emission, efficient, and resilient buildings sector worldwide. 

BPIE first had the idea of developing a tool to track progress of the buildings sector towards meeting the Paris Agreement targets in 2020. The goal was to provide insights into whether current efforts are sufficient and reveal systemic factors influencing progress. BPIE’s Judit Kockat, a leading expert in building stock modelling and policy analysis, spearheaded the development of the methodology for this. The 2025 publication marks the ninth edition of the Buildings-GSR, which BPIE has produced each year since the beginning, with BPIE’s Jerson Amorocho joining the team behind the tracker for the last two editions. 

From global to local 

What started as a global initiative soon evolved into a more granular approach; before long, we were forging the tools to assess decarbonisation of buildings at the European and national levels. While international targets set the overall direction, real progress depends on how each country implements policies, sets domestic targets, and adjusts strategies over time.  

Following the success of the global tracker, we first turned the lens to the European level: in 2022, BPIE launched the first EU Buildings Climate Tracker (EU BCT). 

Insights from the second EU BCT played a crucial role during negotiations on the now-revised EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). By providing clear data on the sector’s starting point, BPIE ensured that the legislative framework took realistic conditions into account. The second EU BCT also highlighted how the COVID-19 pandemic affected energy consumption patterns in buildings, while the third edition examined the impact of the energy crisis that began in late 2021. 

The latest findings in the third edition spotlight the region’s slow progress: between 2015 and 2022, the total energy consumed by buildings in the EU decreased by just 2.8%, short of the 6.5% reduction needed to stay on the 2050 climate neutrality pathway. Similarly, renewable energy used for heating and cooling accounted for 25% instead of the 40% target, while renewables in electricity accounted for 41%, close to the 42.4% target. These shortfalls, combined with a renovation investment gap, are exacerbating social inequalities and increasing health risks associated with poor housing conditions. 

The negotiation period for the revised EPBD sparked heated debate across Europe — and Italy quickly stood out as one of its fiercest opponents. Strong reactions to proposed measures highlighted how sensitive the national conversation around building renovation had become. Recognising the need for a more balanced, evidence-based perspective to guide discussions on the ground, we took a new step: adapting our Buildings Climate Tracker to the national level, beginning with Italy.  

Following the final agreement on the recast EPBD in early 2024, the first Italian Buildings Climate Tracker (ITA BCT) was published in March 2025. The nation’s high rate of homeownership (74.3% in 2022) presents a potential advantage for renovation initiatives, as homeowners are more likely to invest in upgrades; and with over 50% of Italy’s floor area being constructed before 1980, the need to renovate this less energy-efficient and ageing infrastructure is also clear. However, the ITA BCT found that while some progress has been made since 2015 to address carbon dioxide emissions, including high cumulative investments in building renovation, the current trajectories to reduce final energy consumption and increase renewable energy share are insufficient to meet Italy’s 2030 and 2050 climate targets. 

The development of the Italian tracker revealed how understanding both the level of target ambition and the timing of actions to achieve those targets are essential: are policy, finance and social-support efforts to renovate buildings and upgrade energy grids being made in a timely manner, or will delays today catch up with political budgets and people’s quality of life a decade from now? 

Looking ahead, this assessment is well positioned to track progress on existing measures, thus offering insights into the effectiveness of renovation and renewable energy subsidies. For the ITA BCT’s lead authors, Essam Elnagar and Jerson Amorocho, it is these local data that are essential for gauging whether a country is on track with its own policy commitments, regulations, and climate targets, which feed back into the global picture. For Mariangiola Fabbri, BPIE’s former Head of Research, this first assessment emphasised not only the need for reliable data, but for a network of expert reviewers who are deeply knowledgeable of the local context to ensure that data pointing to gaps in progress are interpreted objectively. 

The road ahead 

Every year, BPIE refines its tracker methodology, incorporating new insights that improve understanding of the buildings sector’s emissions and energy efficiency.  However, this brings its own challenges, and we constantly work to balance the need for expanded indicators while maintaining consistency to track progress year after year.  

There is also a personal outlook challenge for the people behind the numbers: as the picture on progress expands and refines with each year’s assessments, the results of tracking building decarbonisation can be disheartening. The world is not on track to meet its climate targets. Yet, the results our work reveal always provide a glimmer of hope: by identifying best practices — be it an innovative financing models, a pioneering policy, or a successful renovation initiative — we strive to put the focus on pathways forward. Understanding the interaction between data and context is key to shaping effective solutions. 

After a decade of developing the tools to track the transformation of the building sector, and with five years tracking the progress at the global level, three years at the EU level and one year at national level in Italy, one very clear and simple message has emerged: the indicators are moving in the right direction, just not at the pace required. To meet the 2050 climate targets, efforts must be accelerated, from local to global. The work of BPIE, in tracking and interpreting these efforts, remains indispensable in guiding decision-makers toward a decarbonised future.