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Bellona and MEP Seb Dance (S&D) have the pleasure of inviting you to a conference in the European Parliament, Brussels, on May 24th, ‘Building greener and more liveable cities: the role of zero emission construction sites’.

Confirmed Participants:
Lene Lad Johansen, Smart Oslo, Oslo Kommune
Matija Matokovic, Policy Officer for Innovation and Public Procurement, DG GROW;
Josefina Lindblom, Policy Officer for Sustainable Buildings, DG ENV;
Erik Sollerud, Managing Director, PON Equipment Norway;
Tim Pryce, Interim Programme Director for Energy and Buildings, C40 Cities;
Stefanie Wieland, Head of Group Brands, Marketing & Communications, Wacker Neuson Group;
Philipp Fleischer, Head of Product Management, Liebherr-Mischtechnik GmbH;
Christina Ianssen, Transport Advisor at Bellona Foundation;
Jonas Helseth, Director of Bellona Europa

To register to the event, please click here.

This conference, approved as an official EU Green Week 2018 Partner event, takes a closer look at zero emission construction sites: an important component to making cities greener and more liveable. Electric mobility is increasingly recognised, among policy makers and industry alike, as the most promising measure to lowering climate-warming CO₂ emissions and tackling hazardous air- and noise-pollution in urban areas. Electrification is rapidly becoming an accessible decarbonisation option for not only passenger vehicles, but also buses, trains, urban duty vehicles, ships, and not least the machinery used in the construction and renovation of the built environment.

While it is well known that construction sites are the source of different forms of pollution – including material waste, visible dust, noise, and vibration – construction and demolition sites also produce less obvious pollutants which are of serious concern for human health, namely NO₂ and particulate matter. According to the European Environment Agency, environmental noise has contributed to at least 900 000 additional prevalent cases of hypertension in 2011, 43 000 additional cases of hospital admissions and to 10 000 cases of premature mortality each year. The vast majority of this pollution comes from the thousands of diesel diggers, generators and other machines operating on construction sites.

Europe can rid itself of vast amounts of urban pollution by targeting the electrification of construction machinery. A recent Bellona-sponsored study shows that construction sites emit more than 400 000 tonnes of CO₂ per year in Norway alone. This corresponds to the emissions from all passenger cars and lighter vehicles in Oslo, in addition to 5,1 tons of NO_x. In recognition of these vast, climate, environmental, and human health implications, Norway has placed ‘zero emission construction sites’ high on its agenda in recent months, and a number of public builders are already investing in and demanding emission-free construction sites. While 25% of emissions in Oslo are from construction machines, the city has a target of reducing emissions by 50% by 2020, and by 95% by 2030. What is more, since 2017, the City Council has set a minimum requirement of fossil-free construction sites in public procurement procedures.

EU Green Week 2018 offers the unique opportunity to kick-start this important discussion at the EU level.

The EU has already taken a first step to tackling these emissions. Regulation (EU) 2016/1628 aims to progressively reduce emissions from non-road mobile machinery and phase out equipment with the most polluting engines. Drawing on the Norwegian experience, decarbonising the EU construction sector, necessitates a common development course and dialogue between public authorities that are key to facilitating the right regulatory and financial framework, and market participants with hands-on expertise and the resources to deploy the solutions.

In light of this, our conference will gather policy makers, companies and NGOs in a common dialogue, building upon best practices from Norway. Representatives from the city of Oslo, voted European Green Capital in 2019, and construction companies will, together with Bellona discuss policies and solutions, as well as barriers and lessons learnt, for going towards zero emission construction sites.

AGENDA:

14:05   Opening remarks Host MEP, Seb Dance (S&D Group)

 14:15   Best practices from Oslo Green Capital 2019: How public authorities can play a catalytic role in stirring the transition to zero emission construction sites?  – Lene Lad Johansen, Project Leader Smart Oslo, Oslo Kommune 

 14:25   The full-chain decarbonisation perspective: zero emissions building materials, processes & cities. – Christina Ianssen, Transport Advisor, Bellona Foundation

 14:35   Current and future EU policy initiatives: a closer a look at innovative public procurement in fostering zero emission construction – Matija Matokovic, Policy Officer for Innovation and e-Procurement, DG GROW, European Commission

 14:45   The state of the art and what policy is needed to deliver zero emission technology – Erik Sollerud, Managing Director, PON Equipment Norway

 14:55   Panel discussion and Q&A (45 mins)

• Josefina Lindblom, Policy Officer for Sustainable Buildings, Unit for Sustainable Production, Products and Consumption, DG ENV
• Tim Pryce, Programme Director for Energy and Buildings, C40 Cities
  
• Stefanie Wieland, Head of Group Brands, Marketing & Communications, Wacker Neuson Group
• Philipp Fleischer, Head of Product Management, Liebherr-Mischtechnik GmbH

 15:40   Closing remarks Host MEP, Seb Dance (S&D Group)

Moderated by Jonas Helseth, Director of Bellona Europa

For any further questions please contact mark@bellona.org