Green Affordable Housing at Speed and Scale - Delivering decarbonised, resilient and locally sourced homes

With much housing stock still to be built in growing regions of the world, we are faced with the need to develop and scale up solutions that cater to the needs of people without exacerbating climate change, resource scarcity, biodiversity loss, and social equity. This session explores how low-carbon materials, modular construction and local supply chains can help build and retrofit affordable, climate resilient homes faster. How policy, finance, and design choices can make housing both sustainable and cost-effective. Speakers will share project examples of how climate and affordability goals can align. How technical and financial innovation can speed transition to sustainable urban living while maintaining affordability. It links to Dialogue 4 by connecting housing delivery and climate action. Placing people and ecosystems at the centre: high-performance standards, nature-based site planning (cooling, drainage, biodiversity), and industrialised construction with low-carbon or prefab materials. Financing solutions that link project pipelines with green finance instruments and investment, delivering mitigation, adaptation and social co-benefits, while adopting safeguards to avoid displacement. It will provide practical, actionable recommendations for local governments, planners, developers and financiers to deliver affordable, decarbonised and climate resilient housing at speed and scale, thereby providing impetus and evidence-based examples for advancing SDG 11.1. Azerbaijan Green Building Council will showcase how green building standards are operationalised through locally adapted methodologies. BuildChange will speak on resilient, low-carbon housing delivery in vulnerable contexts. ADA University will highlight how evidence-based design, green standards and locally suited planning can strengthen affordable housing delivery. Nairobi City Council will share their approach to creating affordable housing, both challenges and needs. UN-Habitat will provide case studies from Country Roadmaps for Decarbonising the Building and Construction Sector, developed under the GlobalABC framework. Referring to SDG 13, WRI will present insights from the Cool Cities Tool, which helps city officials assess the economic and social value of strategies to reduce extreme heat within housing. In line with SDG 9.1, the case studies offer replicable pathways for delivering affordable, decarbonised climate resilient housing at scale.