Policies to reduce whole-life carbon in the built environment - Learnings from the EU and Sweden

Report, 2025

Whole-life carbon (WLC) emissions from buildings, encompassing both operational and embodied emissions, contribute 40 % of global CO2 emissions. Policy efforts have largely focused on operational emissions, resulting in significant reductions in building energy use and emissions in the EU.

However, measures to tackle embodied emissions have lagged. As such, these emissions are becoming an ever-larger part of buildings’ carbon footprint. In Sweden, where operational emissions have been significantly reduced over time, embodied emissions are already larger than operational ones.

Since Sweden is one of the leading countries in life cycle-based building regulations, this CEPS In-Depth Analysis compares EU and Swedish policies for reducing WLC in the built environment. By mapping the different policy frameworks to buildings’ life cycle stages, we identified gaps and opportunities for strengthening existing measures.

While some experiences from the Swedish case could be applied to the EU context, further EU support to Member States could also significantly simplify the harmonisation and implementation of WLC frameworks. Ambitious limit values on WLC, better valuing of existing building stock, expanding buildings’ lifespans and circularity, and fostering demand for low-carbon materials are all important levers to decarbonise the built environment. These measures could be implemented or strengthened in a range of existing policies.