Clean Heat Forum

Accelerating Heating Decarbonization in the Global Building Stock

What is it?

The Clean Heat Forum is an international collaborative effort between national governments, NGOs, and companies to share best practices and advance global policy away from fossil fuels in the heating sector.

Roman theater in Amman covered in snow

Why it matters?

Nearly 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions are direct emissions from the building sector, primarily the result of processes to meet space and water heating demand. While we have clean heating solutions — like highly efficient heat pumps, district energy solutions, deep retrofits, and better building design — at our fingertips, adoption rates have not aligned with what it will take to meet net zero emissions by mid-century and these solutions remain inaccessible to many.

By bringing public and private sector leaders together, the Clean Heat Forum will fill a critical gap, enabling participants to co-create and share best practice policies, standards, and public engagement strategies to reduce one of the largest sources of climate-disrupting air pollution. Accelerated deployment of efficient and clean heating technologies, appropriate building design, and associated solutions will also help reduce health and energy burdens, increasing prosperity and creating more employment.

town street covered in snow

Who’s involved?

The Clean Heat Forum was launched at COP26 in Glasgow under the UNEP-hosted Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC), a global platform with over 200 members, including 34 countries. The continued management of the Clean Heat Forum is organized by the GlobalABC, RMI, UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (UK BEIS), and Scotland Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC).

Initial members include:

  • UK Department of Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy
  • Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Germany
  • German Energy Agency
  • Ministry Of Energy & Mineral Resources, Jordan
  • Directorate for Energy and Climate Change, Scottish Government
  • Danish Energy Agency
  • City of Prague
  • RMI
  • REN21
  • KT-Energy LLC
  • E3G
  • RAP
  • EHPA
  • Octopus Energy Group

To join the Clean Heat Forum, a stakeholder or government simply needs to be a member of the GlobalABC and can apply via the following link: https://globalabc.org/members/join-us. If you are already a GlobalABC member and want more information on the Clean Heat Forum please contact our Carbon Free Buildings US Federal and International Policy Manager David Smedick at dsmedick@rmi.org.

This unique alliance emerges at a time when creative, collaborative climate solutions are more critical than ever — particularly for challenging sectors like buildings. Accelerating the global transition to clean, efficient heating is essential for meeting climate commitments and ensuring healthy homes and workplaces for all.

Jules Kortehorst, Former RMI CEO