IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i16p6822-d1452879.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Towards Mitigating Climate Change Negative Impact: The Role of Regulations and Governance in the Construction Industry

Author

Listed:
  • Yasmin El-Hakim

    (Construction Engineering Department, The American University in Cairo, New Cairo 11835, Egypt)

  • Mohamed Nagib AbouZeid

    (Construction Engineering Department, The American University in Cairo, New Cairo 11835, Egypt)

Abstract

Climate change is a significant challenge in today’s world. The construction industry is one of the most energy-intensive and raw material-depleting sectors worldwide. Legal regulations, such as laws, building codes, and alternative governance, are effective ways to help mitigate climate change risks. Most of the research focuses on either one country’s policies in the construction industry towards climate change or one type of regulation across various countries. Therefore, the objective of this study is to explore and compare various kinds of regulations, namely policies and laws, green codes, and green building rating systems, in three countries: Egypt, the UAE, and the United States, representing different country profiles from different continents. Sources from credible journal papers, conference proceedings, and theses dissertations were used to explore the most recent practices in these countries. It was found that Egypt is the least effective country in enforcing actions towards the climate crisis. There is a gap between the UAE’s actions and the nationally determined contribution target. Federal setbacks hinders the widespread adoption of green practices in the United States. Therefore, the key to effective approaches to combating climate change is enforcing inclusive laws, including all sustainability pillars, and having inclusive nationwide emissions targets in all sectors.

Suggested Citation

  • Yasmin El-Hakim & Mohamed Nagib AbouZeid, 2024. "Towards Mitigating Climate Change Negative Impact: The Role of Regulations and Governance in the Construction Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-34, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:16:p:6822-:d:1452879
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/16/6822/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/16/6822/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. White, David J. & Hubacek, Klaus & Feng, Kuishuang & Sun, Laixiang & Meng, Bo, 2018. "The Water-Energy-Food Nexus in East Asia: A tele-connected value chain analysis using inter-regional input-output analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 550-567.
    2. Shadeedha Mohamed Saradara & Malik Mansoor Ali Khalfan & Abdul Rauf & Rubina Qureshi, 2023. "On The Path towards Sustainable Construction—The Case of the United Arab Emirates: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-26, October.
    3. Jasmina Locke & Jacinta Dsilva & Saniya Zarmukhambetova, 2023. "Decarbonization Strategies in the UAE Built Environment: An Evidence-Based Analysis Using COP26 and COP27 Recommendations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-21, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ehsan Qasemipour & Ali Abbasi & Farhad Tarahomi, 2020. "Water-Saving Scenarios Based on Input–Output Analysis and Virtual Water Concept: A Case in Iran," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, January.
    2. Guan, Shihui & Han, Mengyao & Wu, Xiaofang & Guan, ChengHe & Zhang, Bo, 2019. "Exploring energy-water-land nexus in national supply chains: China 2012," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 1225-1234.
    3. Huanyu Chang & Bing Zhang & Jingyan Han & Yong Zhao & Yongqiang Cao & Jiaqi Yao & Linrui Shi, 2024. "Evaluation of the Coupling Coordination and Sustainable Development of Water–Energy–Land–Food System on a 40-Year Scale: A Case Study of Hebei, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-21, July.
    4. Meng, Fanxin & Wang, Dongfang & Meng, Xiaoyan & Li, Hui & Liu, Gengyuan & Yuan, Qiuling & Hu, Yuanchao & Zhang, Yi, 2022. "Mapping urban energy–water–land nexus within a multiscale economy: A case study of four megacities in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PB).
    5. Mesia Lufingo, 2019. "Public Water Supply and Sanitation Authorities for Strategic Sustainable Domestic Water Management. A Case of Iringa Region In Tanzania," J, MDPI, vol. 2(4), pages 1-18, October.
    6. Yue, Qiong & Guo, Ping, 2021. "Managing agricultural water-energy-food-environment nexus considering water footprint and carbon footprint under uncertainty," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).
    7. Haoye Sun & Thorsten Teichert, 2024. "Scarcity in today´s consumer markets: scoping the research landscape by author keywords," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 74(1), pages 93-120, February.
    8. Xiao, Zhengyan & Yao, Meiqin & Tang, Xiaotong & Sun, Luxi, 2019. "Identifying critical supply chains: An input-output analysis for Food-Energy-Water Nexus in China," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 392(C), pages 31-37.
    9. Li, Li, 2023. "Commodity prices volatility and economic growth: Empirical evidence from natural resources industries of China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    10. Leticia S. Ribeiro & Ana Lúcia Nazareth da Silva & Mayara Amario & Carina M. Stolz & Assed N. Haddad & Dieter Thomas Boer, 2024. "Reuse of Steel Residue in Polypropylene Matrices for the Production of Plastic Wood, Aiming at Decarbonization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-18, May.
    11. Liu, Fangmei & Li, Li & Liang, Gemin & Huang, Liqiao & Gao, Wei, 2022. "National water footprints and embodied environmental consequences of major economic sectors-a case study of Japan," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 30-46.
    12. Zhu, Bangzhu & Su, Bin & Li, Yingzhu, 2018. "Input-output and structural decomposition analysis of India’s carbon emissions and intensity, 2007/08 – 2013/14," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C), pages 1545-1556.
    13. Li, Meng & Meng, Bo & Gao, Yuning & Wang, Zhi & Zhang, Yaxiong & Sun, Yongping, 2022. "Tracing CO2 emissions in global value chains: Multinationals vs. domestically-owned firms," Sustainable Global Supply Chains Discussion Papers 2, Research Network Sustainable Global Supply Chains.
    14. Zhang, Tong & Tan, Qian & Yu, Xiaoning & Zhang, Shan, 2020. "Synergy assessment and optimization for water-energy-food nexus: Modeling and application," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    15. Schlör, Holger & Venghaus, Sandra, 2022. "Measuring resilience in the food-energy-water nexus based on ethical values and trade relations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 323(C).
    16. Yi Liang & Aixi Han & Li Chai & Hong Zhi, 2020. "Using the Machine Learning Method to Study the Environmental Footprints Embodied in Chinese Diet," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-17, October.
    17. Ling, Zaili & Huang, Tao & Li, Jixiang & Zhou, Sheng & Lian, Lulu & Wang, Jinxiang & Zhao, Yuan & Mao, Xiaoxuan & Gao, Hong & Ma, Jianmin, 2019. "Sulfur dioxide pollution and energy justice in Northwestern China embodied in West-East Energy Transmission of China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(C), pages 547-560.
    18. Wang, Saige & Chen, Bin, 2021. "Unraveling energy–water nexus paths in urban agglomeration: A case study of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 304(C).
    19. Quancheng Zhou & Hanze Tan & Zezhong Zhang & Weijie Zhang & Fei Wang & Jihong Qu & Yingjie Wu & Wenjun Wang & Yong Liu & Dequan Zhang & Yongsheng Wang & Kai Feng, 2024. "Investigation of the Coupling and Coordination Relationship of Water–Energy–Food–Ecology and the Driving Mechanism in Dalad Banner," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-24, June.
    20. Ju, Yiyi & Fujikawa, Kiyoshi, 2019. "Modeling the cost transmission mechanism of the emission trading scheme in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C), pages 172-182.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:16:p:6822-:d:1452879. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.