Africa Green Building Summit (online and in Cameroon)

The World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) catalyses the uptake of sustainable buildings for everyone, everywhere by transforming the building and construction sector across three strategic areas - climate action, health & wellbeing, and resources & circularity. Christian Brodhag, President of the Construction21 association, will speak at the event.

This is the world’s largest and most diverse network for green buildings with over 37,000 members across 70 national Green Building Councils (GBCs) who, for over a decade, have been a force of positive change in the built environment. GBCs lead from across the industry and are committed to transforming the building and construction market through advocacy, education, rating systems and thought leadership. Together they have registered more than 2.9 billion square meters of green buildings through the network’s various rating systems, trained 46,800 people annually, reached +500 million people and strengthened policy in 30 countries in the previous year alone.

To provide thought leadership in transforming the built environment across the continent of Africa, the Africa Regional Network (ARN) of the WorldGBC instituted the Africa Green Building Summit (AGBS) as an annual event that brings all the Green Building Councils in Africa under one roof to act on climate through a sustainable built environment for everyone everywhere.

In previous years, the event was hosted in 2017 by the Kenya Green Building Society under the theme “Financing Sustainable Development Goals”, in 2018 by Mauritius Green Building Council under the theme “Transform our Future” and in 2020 by Ghana Green Building Council under the theme “Green Buildings & Green Finance in Africa”.

Building on the success of these previous summits, the Africa Green Building Summit (AGBS) will be hosted in 2021 by Green Building Council Cameroon under the theme: “The Africa We Want: A Sustainable Built Environment for Everyone, Everywhere”. The theme anchors climate action through the built environment, including buildings, infrastructure and utilities across the continent.

The two (2) day event (6th–7th October 2021) will have the keynote address presented by Clement Adjorlolo, Smart Places Programme Officer at AUDA-NEPAD, who will address the urgency of collaboration between the African Union and the WorldGBC Africa Regional Network in meeting Agenda 2063 Goals and the development of smart sustainable cities. Madam Célestine Ketcha Epouse Courtes, Minister of Housing and Urban Development in Cameroon, will highlight the need for green buildings in Cameroon and Cristina Gamboa, CEO of WorldGBC will set the expectation needed from the region to ensure that buildings provide a high quality of life for people, minimise negative impacts on the environment and maximise economic benefits.

The Africa Regional Network will also launch the ARN Manifesto that will articulate our declaration of the intentions and targets of the regional network in this decade of action.

The AGBS will include presentations from leading organizations, training, workshops and an exhibition from the GBCs and WorldGBC Africa Regional Network sponsors and collaborators. Africa, a continent home to more than 1.3 billion people and the fastest-growing population globally, is projected to have more than 10 additional cities surpassing 5 million inhabitants in 2030. The speed and scale of urbanization in Africa creates significant challenges, including meeting the increasing demand for affordable housing, well-connected transport systems and other public infrastructure, services, and jobs. In the context of the Africa Union (AU) Agenda 2063, cities require significant improvements in the management of city infrastructure, connectivity, pollution and waste, access to clean water, safe food, and sustainable supply of other materials.

Currently there are GBCs developing in Cameroon, Ghana, Rwanda, South Africa, Kenya, Namibia, Mauritius, Tanzania, Uganda, Botswana, Nigeria, and Ethiopia.

Green Building Councils are independent, non-profit organisations made up of businesses and organisations working in the building and construction industry. As members of the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC), they work to advance green building in their own countries through rating tools, advocacy, education, and thought leadership, as well as uniting with other Green Building Councils to achieve environmental, economic and social goals on a larger, global scale. With the African continent being home to 1.3 billion people which is projected to double by 2050, there is a huge opportunity to design, construct and build cognizant of climate change effects from today while creating green jobs, skills, training, and sustainable growth. As approximately 80% of the buildings that will be needed for the 2050 population in Africa are yet to be built, Green Building Councils within the region have a huge responsibility to transform challenges into opportunities on the ground building to COP26 through the three strategic areas of climate action, health & wellbeing and circularity & resources.

The Africa Green Building Summit Objectives

The Africa Green Building Summit aims to:

• Provide a platform for WorldGBC Board members, Corporate Advisory Board (CAB) members, members, stakeholders and whole-of society to exchange ideas on best practice for sustainable buildings
• Create momentum amongst the building and construction industry’s movers and shakers around green building issues, by advocating for smart policies, strategies and creative programs that involve both the public and private sectors
• Promote the adoption of green building practices and share new technologies
• Offer participants a forum to network and create business opportunities
• Encourage regional GBCs to share their local experiences in implementing the World Green Building Council common strategy.
• Explore ways and mechanisms through which regional cooperation can be enhanced

Who will attend?

• WorldGBC Board Members
• Corporate Advisory Board
• African Regional Network
• International and regional partners and stakeholders
• Architecture & engineering professionals and firms,
• Real estate developers, contractors, suppliers & manufacturers of building & construction products and services.
• Local governments and municipalities
• Academia and green / sustainable building aspirants
• Building users at all levels
• Youth Networks

Why attend?

• Learn about climate action through a sustainable built environment for everyone, everywhere
• Explore opportunities and learn about challenges facing to sustainable building across the region
• Listen to case studies about the regional approaches to address these challenges
• Leverage experiences and ideas with counterparts from the region & beyond
• Explore business opportunities and the potential for public-private partnerships
• Discuss legal and regulatory frameworks necessary to support sustainable buildings in the region

More information & registration

Event recommended by its partner Construction21.