Reducing Embodied Carbon Is Key to Meeting India’s Climate Targets

India's buildings sector is a major source of CO2 emissions, with indirect 'embodied carbon' (EC) from material procurement and construction nearly tripling between 2000 and 2017. With India's total building space projected to more than double and its urbanization rate expected to reach 40% by 2030–31, the demand for energy-intensive materials like steel, cement, and bricks is set to rise sharply. The document highlights that while operational emissions are being addressed, EC emissions risk locking in high energy use for decades. It advocates for a whole-building life-cycle assessment approach and a national roadmap to transition toward low-carbon materials, suggesting that India could lead other developing economies in compatible economic expansion and emissions reduction.

• Embodied carbon (EC) emissions—those from the procurement, manufacturing, construction, and disposal of materials—have increased significantly in India, with indirect emissions nearly tripling between 2000 and 2017.
• The buildings sector contributed approximately 24 percent of India's total energy and process-related CO2 emissions in 2019.
• India's rapid urbanization, projected to reach 40 percent by 2030–31, is driving a massive increase in demand for carbon-intensive materials: steel demand is estimated to more than quadruple to 489 Mt in 30 years, brick demand is projected to grow three to four times to reach 750 billion to 1 trillion bricks per year in 20 years, and cement emissions could increase three to six times by 2050.
• Several major Indian companies, including Dalmia Bharat Cement, Ultra Tech Cement, ACC Cement, Ambuja Cement, JSW steel, Saint-Gobain, and Berger paints, have established net-zero carbon roadmaps and environmental product declarations.
• Deploying existing embodied carbon solutions could reduce global cumulative CO2 emissions by 70 percent, and the use of readily available low-carbon materials could enable a 60 percent reduction in embodied carbon within two to three years.

APA

RMI (2021). Reducing Embodied Carbon Is Key to Meeting India’s Climate Targets. https://rmi.org/resources/reducing-embodied-carbon-is-key-to-meeting-indias-climate-targets/

Chicago

RMI. Reducing Embodied Carbon Is Key to Meeting India’s Climate Targets. 2021. https://rmi.org/resources/reducing-embodied-carbon-is-key-to-meeting-indias-climate-targets/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Reducing Embodied Carbon Is Key to Meeting India’s Climate Targets |date=17 November 2021 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/reducing-embodied-carbon-is-key-to-meeting-indias-climate-targets/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2021reducing, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Reducing Embodied Carbon Is Key to Meeting India’s Climate Targets}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2021}, month = nov, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/reducing-embodied-carbon-is-key-to-meeting-indias-climate-targets/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }