Project Management Competencies Required for Carbon Emissions Reduction in the Construction Industry: A Comprehensive Review and Future Direction

Climate change is a menace globally leading to rising temperatures and increasing emissions levels. Project managers have a significant role to play in the mitigation of carbon emissions in the construction industry. Nevertheless, not much research has been conducted into the competencies required by project managers to reduce carbon emissions in the construction industry. This study sought to fill the gap through a comprehensive literature review. Scopus database was adopted for searching for articles. Using VOSViewer software (Version 1.6.20), scientometric analysis was undertaken using science mapping technique. The study used 141 documents for scientometric analyses and 25 documents for systematic analysis. The articles’ sources, keywords, papers and authors were analyzed. Scientometric analyses comprised co-occurrence of keywords, analysis of document sources, and co-citation analysis of authors. From the findings, the most significant competencies were stakeholder management, awareness of carbon emission targets, collaborating with carbon specialists in project teams, lifecycle assessment and costing, and knowledge of waste from construction activities. The study is significant, and the competencies identified serve as a guideline in bridging the knowledge gaps that exist and consolidating findings from different bodies of knowledge in project management.