Proof-reading: still a useful activity

I'm feeling rather pleased with myself -- yesterday I discovered an error in a United Nations report on climate change.

The first sentence of the Executive Summary of "Building Materials and the Climate: Constructing a New Future" states that "the built environment sector is by far the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, responsible for at least 37 percent of the global emissions". This figure of 37% has been widely repeated, because people tend to trust Executive Summaries. I know I frequently take statements from Executive Summaries without digging.

But this number seemed high to me. On digging a little further, I discovered that the first sentence of Chapter 1 states that "The built environment sector is one of the largest contributors to climate change, responsible for more than a third (37 per cent) of global ENERGY-RELATED carbon emissions (United Nations Environment Programme [UNEP] 2022, see Figure 1.1)."

The words "energy-related" are crucial here as energy-related emissions are about 73% of global emissions. So the true number <gets out trusty HP-15C calculator> is 0.37 x 0.73 = 27% of global emissions.

This has got to be a high point, if not THE high point, of my career as a research engineer and consultant, and shows the importance of proof-reading Executive Summaries.

Keeners can find the full report by clicking here.