David NESS
Author
COP31, co-hosted by Türkiye and Australia, will reportedly prioritise electrification among headline goals including waste and buildings. As the Australian Minister urges, "electrifying everything that can be electrified", including vehicles, industry, and buildings, while ensuring "as much of that electricity as possible is renewable". The "35 by 35" goal is to increase electrification's share of energy consumption to 35% by 2035.
Australia is lauded for its climate target of 62-70%, which relies heavily upon renewables-based electrification and improved energy efficiency. But is there an elephant in the climate room? A sole focus on renewables and electrification overlooks consumption carbon associated with increasing demand by consuming cities of the Global North for imported goods from producers in the South. Consequently, consumption-based GHG emissions may exceed operational emissions by around 60%.
Arguably, current climate negotiations, with a sole focus on shifting from fossil fuels, should have a broader ambit that acknowledges consumption carbon and global inequity. As Prof Walter Stahel observed in 2008, "global climate change discussions were limited to reducing CO2 emissions from the burning of fossil fuels...the key issue at stake is unbalanced resource consumption on a global level". After 18 years, it's time to heed this message!
As I emphasised at WSBE26 (external link), a rebalancing of construction between Global North to South is required by applying 'sufficiency first' principles: policy measures and daily practices seeking to avoid demand forenergy, materials, water, land and all other natural resources, while enabling well-beingfor all within planetary boundaries (external link). We should therefore question, at the earliest opportunity, not just 'how well' we build (as at present), but also 'where we build', 'for whom', 'what', and especially 'how much'.
Wealthier societies of the Global North are responsible for the highest resource use and consumption or embodied carbon. Due to material-driven economic growth, including unconstrained construction of new commercial property, Australia has the highest ecological overshoot per capita in the world, followed closely by Canada and USA. Meanwhile, the catastrophic impact of their increasing GHG emissions on nations vulnerable to climate change is often overlooked.
Pacific Nations took their case to the International Court of Justice in 2025, winning a remarkable victory. In its advisory opinion, later supported by the UN, the ICJ found that high-emission nations must be more ambitious to limit warming to 1.5oC, otherwise they may be liable for reparation. Aligned with these rulings, the WSL released a ' (external link)Zero Carbon for All (external link)' tool in 2025. Applying climate justice principles, this enables remaining carbon budgets to be scientifically determined for various countries, with an emphasis on consumption carbon. High-emissions nations of the Global North, including Australia, require a steep reduction to enable growth within the South via a more gradual trajectory.
Australia's stance suggests it can continue its economic growth driven by high material consumption, while meeting climate goals via increased renewables infrastructure - despite investment likely to exceed AU$400 billion.
This leads to the following proposition, focused upon construction: 'The Global North should meet its climate and human rights obligations via 'Sufficiency First' approaches and conformity with remaining carbon budgets. Constraining capitalist construction of new commercial property, while repurposing vacant and underutilised buildings and infrastructure, will dramatically cut consumption and operational carbon. This will not only reduce capital costs, but also the spiralling cost of extensive renewables infrastructure. In turn, the resources and investment may be diverted to meeting genuine societal needs - including those within the vulnerable South'.