(Washington, D.C.): While much of the climate policy discussed at COP26 focuses on decarbonization 10 to 20 years out, temperatures continue to rise. Upfront embodied emissions—greenhouse gases emitted from materials fabrication and construction of our physical environment—accelerate the rate of global warming before buildings and infrastructure are even used. Though often ignored or deemed too perplexing to resolve, the need to reduce embodied emissions immediately, and how, are the subjects of Bill Caplan’s new book, Thwart Climate Change Now: Reducing Embodied Carbon Brick by Brick.
Thwart Climate Change Now addresses how to tackle the built environment’s “embodied” emissions, highlighting specific design and policy issues that overlook their own contribution to atmospheric carbon.
Ken Berlin, President and CEO of The Climate Reality Project founded by Al Gore, called the book a “wakeup call for everyone seeking to reduce carbon emissions in newly built and retrofitted buildings . . . a must read for everyone interested in this important subject.”
Bringing together the science of climate change, sustainable design, and green policies in a language accessible to a diverse readership, the book includes case study examples to support design, policy, and legislative recommendations to slow emissions growth in the near term.
The book, published by ELI Press, the Environmental Law Institute’s book division, is on sale now.
For more information, visit https://www.eli.org/thwart-climate-change-now.
If you would like a preview of the book or wish to interview the author, please contact Rachel Jean-Baptiste at jean-baptiste@eli.org.