European Commission published its Water Resilience Strategy
On 4 June, the European Water Resilience Strategy was officially launched by the European Commission. The initiative aims to contribute to a resilient water management in the EU and addresses the Member States to focus on effective implementation of existing water legislation.
Extreme weather events are already increasing, like floods, prolonged droughts, or when the quality of groundwater or surface water exceeds limits. This has a huge impact on citizens and on our economies, with spread damages and high insurance costs. These events also affect the built environment, by halting construction activity on site or even putting existing structures at risk. Moreover, the situation is not about to get any better in the coming years.
To address those challenges, the European Commission proposes key actions in five areas:
- Governance and implementation
- Investments (including increased cohesion policy funding)
- Accelerating digitalisation and AI
- Promoting research and innovation
- Security and preparedness (enhanced real-time early warning and monitoring)
FIEC is Ambassador of the #WaterWiseEU campaign launched by DG Environment of the European Commission. The common goal is to raise awareness of the increasing stress placed on Europe’s water systems and to spotlight the many available solutions to tackle issues related to water.
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Accidents at Work:
Hearing at the European Economic and Social Committee
On 4 June, FIEC participated in an expert hearing organised by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) for the preparation of an opinion on “How can an active and inclusive prevention approach contribute to better health and safety at the workplace – 0 deaths goal”.
FIEC stressed that, even in the number of accident at work has drastically decreased these last years, it remains a priority for the construction industry. FIEC recalled its support for the European Framework on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) 2021-2027 and its commitment to improve OSH at the workplace.
FIEC, together with its European counterpart, the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW), has carried out many initiatives and EU-funded projects to offer practical and tailored guidance for the construction companies (e.g. modules on asbestos, guide on respirable crystalline silica, …). Finally, FIEC highlighted the importance of social dialogue and called for more enforcement rather than new legislation.
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Excel4Housing project:
Kick off meeting 2-3 June
On 2 and 3 June, FIEC participated in the kick off meeting of the EU-funded project “Excel4Housing”. This project, financed by Erasmus+ and coordinated by the European Association of Institutes for Vocational Training (EVBB) , aims to build a transnational network of Centres of Vocational Education (CoVe).
This project brings together VET providers, academic and research entities, innovation and industry clusters as well as public entities coordinating energy efficiency and sustainable programs at national and regional levels. The initiative seeks to address emerging needs and the “jobs of the future” for energy efficient and sustainable housing.
By participating in the Excel4Housing project, FIEC is playing a crucial role in ensuring that workforce development aligns with the sector’s evolving needs. FIEC’s tasks include the organisation of a European event aimed at fostering opportunities for a more gender balance and inclusion in the construction industry and the development of policy recommendations at the end of the project.
The project will last for 4 years, until January 2029.
Figures explained :
Built Environment and the Construction Sector
In the last FIEC Newsletter, reference was made to the construction sector and the built environment. However, as the built environment has a broader scope, including next to construction and material extraction also the final buildings, we hereby clarify those terms and share some interesting figures about them.
The built environment (buildings and infrastructure) is responsible for 37% of global CO2 emissions, while emissions from the construction sector are estimated at 5-12% of total national Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. The building stock alone accounts for 40% of the final energy need in Europe, e.g. for heating. Energy-related GHG emissions hugely vary depending on the energy mix.
The construction sector emissions include material extraction, manufacturing of construction products, as well as the actual construction and renovation of buildings and infrastructure (like on-site assembly). The vast majority (81%) is primarily linked to material extraction and production, which makes greater material efficiency and a focus on reducing the carbon footprint of those construction materials key.
Buildings alone use 1.6 billion tonnes of materials per year, like aggregates, bricks, gypsum, lime and copper. Producing these materials results in about 250 million tonnes (Mt) of CO2 emissions annually. Cement, steel, aluminium and plastics account for almost 80% of those emissions. Half of the steel produced today is used in construction and infrastructure. At the same time, the steel industry releases some 230 CO2 Mt per year, while cement emits more than 110 Mt CO2 per year. There is significant mitigation potential to be achieved in the production of construction materials. For instance, for steel, the shift to electric arc furnace (using scrap metal) and direct reduced iron (primary route) can lead to enormous sector emission reductions. Similarly, also for the cement sector, large emission reduction potential exists.
Figures are important to understand the impact of policy decisions that are being made every day on the national and the EU level. The reliability of this information is important to maintain the trust-based relationships and exchanges that we foster. We hereby clarify the decisive difference between the built environment and the construction sector, and their respective impact on GHG emissions. We hope this is helpful. Furthermore, we encourage the readers of our newsletter to share their thoughts and to keep in touch.
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Celebrating 120 years of FIEC
On 3 December at Concert Noble (Brussels), we will be gathering together with our members and guests to celebrate this momentum, at the heart of the EU district.