Summit report points to systemic changes needed to accelerate embodied carbon reduction

The Embodied Carbon Summit Evidence Report released today summarises the insights gained from the built environment industry, including developers, engineers, architects, local authorities, insurers, and academics, during the Embodied Carbon Summit in November 2025. The summit identified the key barriers and opportunities of the practical, technical and economic impacts of measuring and reducing embodied carbon in new buildings, as defined in the AECOM study last year for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Participants agreed that while embodied carbon reduction is technically achievable with current knowledge and tools, scaling it requires coordinated national action to tackle policy gaps, inconsistent methodologies, and misaligned economic incentives.

The summit and report were supported by major industry bodies, including the Happold Foundation, Institution of Structural Engineers, UKGBC, RICS, RIBA, CIBSE and the Useful Simple Trust. Leaders from these organisations stressed that reducing embodied carbon is critical to meeting climate commitments, that the industry is ready to deliver low‑carbon solutions at scale, and that government leadership is now essential. They called for consistent regulation, clear policy signals, and a national framework to convert industry readiness into widespread implementation.