CEMEX has announced a new climate action strategy, which outlines the company’s vision to advance towards a carbon-neutral economy and to address society’s increasing demands more efficiently.
As a result of company efforts to date, CEMEX has reduced its net specific CO2 emissions by more than 22% compared to its1990 baseline. However, the company has defined a more ambitious target of a 35% reduction of net specific CO2 emissions by 2030. This new goal is aligned with the Science-Based Targets methodology, a requirement climate science says is necessary to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.
To complement this strategy with a longer-term vision, CEMEX is also establishing a new ambition to deliver net-zero CO2 concrete by 2050. The company believes concrete – its end product – has a key role to play in the transition to a carbon-neutral economy, and is an essential component in the development of climate-smart urban projects, sustainable buildings, and resilient infrastructure.
“Climate change has been a priority for CEMEX for many years. Our efforts have brought significant progress to date, but we must do more. This is why we have defined a more ambitious strategy to reduce CO2 emissions by 2030 and to deliver net-zero CO2 concrete by 2050,” said Fernando A. Gonzalez, CEO of CEMEX.
To fulfil this strategy, the company has constructed a CO2 roadmap to accelerate the roll-out of technologies in all of its facilities, including investing in energy efficiency, using alternative fuels, expanding the use of renewable energy, and increasing the substitution of clinker with alternative cementitious materials.
Furthermore, the new net-zero CO2 concrete aspiration for 2050 sets the company on a path that requires strategic partnerships and cross-industry collaboration in the development of breakthrough technologies like carbon capture, utilisation, and storage; novel clinkers with low heat consumption, alternative decarbonated raw materials, carbonation of concrete waste for use as recycled aggregates, and the promotion of circular economy models that transform waste into fuel. CEMEX currently consumes, as either alternative fuel or alternative raw material, 32 times more waste from other industries than the waste it generates and sends to landfill.