Rethinking Materials, Rethinking Carbon: How the EU can build better to achieve climate neutrality

Carbon removals are essential for achieving net-zero and offsetting residual emissions in hard-to-abate sectors. Alongside nature-based and technological approaches, carbon storage in buildings is emerging as a promising solution. 

This explainer highlights how buildings can act as long-lived carbon storage units when using materials like timber, bio-based products and CO₂-cured concrete, supported by designs that extend lifetimes and enable reuse. 

Shifting to carbon-storing materials could allow the built environment to store gigatons of CO₂ while meeting urban development needs, though its overall contribution to net removals remains uncertain.