An overview of climate change mitigation opportunities in the world's buildings is presented, based on the key building-specific findings of the Fourth Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change. Buildings and the building stock can play a major role in mitigating climate change in the short- to medium-term, since substantial reductions in CO2 emissions from their energy use can be achieved over the coming years.

Ecosystem-based adaptation (Eba) uses biodiversity and ecosystem services as part of a larger adaptation strategy to climate change. While the conservation and sustainable development community considers EbA to be a strong method of addressing climate change and its associated challenges, there is still a tendency for policy makers to implement traditional engineering solutions for adaptation, rather than investing in EbA.

The white paper puts forward recommendations for the coordinated enhancement of policies, codes, and regulations. It lay out a framework for guidance for the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), and the Review Committees of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for the National Building Code (NBC), to harmonise their actions for healthy affordable housing in urban areas.