Global cement industry supports decarbonisation talks in Paris

More than 1000 delegates from across the world are expected to attend the Global Buildings and Climate Forum, over the next two days. The forum has been co-organised by the French government and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), to develop an agreement on how to cut emissions in the built environment. It follows the official launch of the Buildings Breakthrough initiative at COP28 in December 2023. The UN Breakthrough Agenda aims at strengthening international collaboration on the decarbonisation of high-emitting sectors.

Thomas Guillot, CEO at the GCCA, spoke at the official side event, hosted by the GCCA and France Ciment. Mr Guillot said: “Our industry has been leading the way on decarbonisation through the implementation of our 2050 Net Zero Concrete Roadmap. Cement and concrete will obviously continue to play a vital role in the built environment, due to concrete’s in-built properties such as resilience and resistance to damage from heat, wind, fire and floods, especially as our climate changes. And as our Roadmap sets out, we are committed to fully decarbonising this essential material.

“Architects, designers and developers across the built environment can also play their part in using our material with reuse and repurpose in mind and using concrete more efficiently in the future, to reduce embodied carbon in new structures.”

Bruno PILLON, Chairman, France Ciment, said: “France and the whole world will still need to rely on cement and concrete for future infrastructure, especially as three-quarters of the infrastructure that the world needs by 2050, has yet to be built. But it’s really important that the cement and construction sectors, governments and suppliers all work together to achieve our net zero goal. In France, the cement industry sector has published its decarbonisation roadmap a few months ago, with a target of halving carbon emissions by 2030, compared to 2015.”

Karen Scrivener is a Professor at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, and was recently appointed to the United Nations SDG group. Also speaking at the side event in Paris, she said: “Ultimately, we’re constrained by the materials we have on earth. There isn’t an overnight practical replacement to cement and concrete at the scale the construction and infrastructure needs for our world. That's why we have to do all we can to decarbonise cement, whilst recognising where the demand is rightfully coming from, to improve people's lives across the planet, including the global south.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/europe-cis/07032024/global-cement-industry-supports-decarbonisation-talks-in-paris/