Building sustainable housing futures for all: filling the knowledge gap on building materials in informal settlements

The construction industry plays a major role in climate change and environmental damage, with buildings accounting for over a third of the world’s carbon emissions. Most new buildings in the coming decades will house the urban poor in the global South. If the construction and building industry is to reach the goal to decarbonise by 2050, it needs to consider the materials used for housing in informal settlements.

Unfortunately, the lack of focus on this agenda and lack of knowledge about the factors that affect the supply chain for these materials makes it hard to take effective action. This briefing shares lessons from IIED’s research in Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe, which revealed that filling that knowledge gap is crucial to improving the housing conditions of the urban poor and achieving a fair transition towards a more sustainable building and construction industry.