Monday 9 April 2018

Cement sector ‘must double low carbon efforts’

The world’s cement companies must double their efforts to cut emissions if they are to achieve international climate obligations.

That’s according to a new report from CDP, which says regulation is key in driving change across the sector, which currently accounts for around 6% of global carbon dioxide emissions.

The study says the construction industry, which is a heavy user of cement, accounts for more than a third of global emissions.

It calls for building regulations to be tightened and suggests significant innovation in technology is required.

CDP adds Indian cement companies are generally the most sustainable, in part due to better access to alternative materials and through benefiting from newer and more efficient cement plants compared to Europe’s older infrastructure.

Paul Simpson, CEO of CDP, said: “Cement is a heavy and largely invisible polluter, yet taken for granted as a necessary building block of basic civilisation.

“With potential pressure coming from multiple sources, including down the value chain in the form of building and city regulation, cement companies need to invest and innovate in order to avoid impending risks to their operations and the wider world.”