'More and faster': UN calls to shrink buildings' carbon footprint

Carbon tax is levied on the production, distribution or use of fossil fuels based on how much carbon their combustion emits. [iStockphoto]

Countries must move rapidly to slash CO2 emissions from homes, offices, shops and other buildings -- a sector that accounts for a third of global greenhouse gas pollution, the United Nations said Monday.

Carbon dioxide emissions from the building sector rose around five per cent in the last decade when they should have fallen 28 per cent, according to a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).