Editorial comment
2024 is turning out to be a banner year for elections, with more than 80 countries (representing over half the global population) heading to the polls and engaging in one of the most fundamental acts of democracy at some point this year.
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Why is that of interest to the cement industry? Well, elections (quite often) mean new governments, new policies, new spending promises, and new economic priorities – all of which can have a huge impact on industry.
Taking the US, for example, a pledge to spend on infrastructure made in Joe Biden’s 2020 election campaign resulted in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law being signed in 2021. As of mid-May 2024, that legislation has resulted in: US$454 billion of funding for 56 000 infrastructure projects across 4500 communities, over all 50 states. Some examples of these projects include: 165 000 miles of road improvements, 9400 bridge repair projects, 450 port and waterway projects, 300 airport terminal projects, and 1400 drinking water and wastewater projects.
And it doesn’t stop there; according to the PCA’s Chief Economist, Ed Sullivan, the impact of the Infrastucture Law is “expected to materialise in a much more meaningful way this year and next.” Indeed, Sullivan continues: “the federal funding of infrastructure underpins the PCA’s broadly positive outlook for the cement industry in 2024.” (World Cement, April 2024).
Another Biden campaign pledge was to invest in tackling climate change, and set the US on a target for net zero emissions by 2050. This policy has come to fruition in the form of major grants to industry to trial green technologies, with US Department of Energy announcing in March of this year that US$1.2 billion in funding was going to be split across Heidelberg Materials, National Cement, Summit Materials, and Roanoke Cement Company. This funding will allow the beneficiaries to invest in projects covering CCUS, calcined clay, alternative fuels, and even training and education programmes.
Back on the other side of the pond, and after months of speculation, the UK has now officially entered election season with voters due to head to the polls on 4 July. With just a little over a month to sway voters, campaigns here are already in full swing with politicians travelling around the country, smiling for photos and occasionally embarrassing themselves. As for policies, detail is a little thin on the ground currently, with neither of the two main contenders having yet released a full manifesto. For now then, we have little more than bullet points like ‘Get Britain building again’ (Labour) or ‘Grow the economy’ (Conservatives) to rely on. However, given that YouGov’s weekly ‘important issues’ tracker routinely places ‘Housing’ and ‘The Environment’ amongst the areas of greatest concern for UK voters across all demographics, perhaps we’ll soon see proposals for a British Infrastructure Law?
Speaking of democracy and the environment, EnviroTech 2025 will be taking place in Athens, Greece on 9 – 12 March. Join us for an agenda filled with expert-led presentations, panel discussions, networking events, and the chance to meet cement industry leaders from around the world to discuss the decarbonisation of the cement industry.
Register your interest here: www.worldcement.com/envirotech2025
