An Open Letter to Business Leaders

Real estate CEOs and World Economic Forum Co-Chairs urge global business leaders to reduce real estate-related emissions by at least 50% by 2030 and achieve net-zero carbon by 2050. The letter promotes the 'Green Building Principles: The Action Plan for Net-Zero Carbon', which provides a 10-step framework for calculating carbon footprints, setting targets, optimizing energy, and procuring renewable energy to address the fact that buildings account for 38% of human-generated emissions.

• Buildings are responsible for 38% of human-generated emissions, consisting of 28% from operational emissions and 10% from materials and construction, yet fewer than 1% of buildings globally are currently net-zero carbon.
• The authors call on business leaders across all industries to reduce their real estate-related emissions by a minimum of 50% by 2030 and reach net-zero carbon by 2050 at the latest.
• The Green Building Principles provide a 10-step action plan for achieving net-zero carbon buildings, which includes calculating portfolio carbon footprints, measuring embodied carbon in new developments, maximizing on-site renewable energy, ensuring 100% renewable-backed off-site energy procurement, and purchasing high-quality carbon offsets for residual emissions.

APA

World Economic Forum (n.d.). An Open Letter to Business Leaders. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GBP_Open_Letter.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. An Open Letter to Business Leaders. n.d. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GBP_Open_Letter.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=World Economic Forum |title=An Open Letter to Business Leaders |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GBP_Open_Letter.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{worldeconomicforumndopen, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{An Open Letter to Business Leaders}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GBP_Open_Letter.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }