Net-zero concrete

a call to action to governments

Mission Possible Partnership

A CALL FOR ACTION TO POLICYMAKERS FROM THE CONCRETE ACTION FOR CLIMATE initiative

The Concrete for Action (CAC) initiative is led by the World Economic Forum and the Global Cement & Concrete Association (GCCA) in collaboration with the Mission Possible Partnership (MPP) – a wider coalition of climate leaders led by the Energy Transitions Commission (ETC), RMI, We Mean Business Coalition and the World Economic Forum that supports heavy industries on the pathway to carbon neutrality. 

A global challenge to tackle

Concrete is the most used human-made material on the planet with 14 billion cubic metres produced every year for use in everything from roads to bridges, tunnels to homes, and hydropower installations to flood defenses. Concrete is an essential element of construction, with no other material equaling its resilience, strength and wide availability. However, production of cement, the key ingredient in concrete, accounts for around 7% of global CO2 emissions.

A net-zero industry commitment

In October 2021, forty of the world’s leading cement and concrete manufacturers joined forces to accelerate the shift to greener concrete by pledging to cut CO2 emissions by 25% by 2030 from 2020 levels, building on significant CO2 emissions reductions achieved over the last three decades in the sector and committing to achieving net-zero concrete by 2050. This first global industry-led net-zero roadmap is about cutting 1.5 billion tons of CO2 in the next decade!

This announcement marks one of the biggest global commitments by an industry to net-zero so far.  The published report highlights the commitment of this essential global industry, envisioning a net-zero world and the industries contribution towards it, as well as the comprehensive work to decarbonise already underway. (See the GCCA’s ‘Concrete Future’ report for full details.)

Collective action beyond the industry is required

Through its sectoral initiative, the Concrete Action for Climate, the Mission Possible Partnership brings together ambitious industry stakeholders to forge a shared vision for the future of concrete. The goal is to outline a pathway to operationalize the industry’s net-zero commitment, including through measurable milestones, shared visions and commitment to agreed actions. The initiative is delivered by the World Economic Forum and the Global Cement and Concrete Association.

Building a net-zero future for concrete requires leadership from industry itself, as well as the collective action, input and support from the entire construction value chain, policymakers and other key players. Those attending COP26 have a vital role to play in ensuring that innovative and enabling policy frameworks are developed at the regional and national levels in this decade of action.

Key policy asks to accelerate net-zero transition

To accelerate emissions reduction across the cement and concrete value chain, leading cement and concrete manufacturers put forward the following policy asks:

  • Use appropriate carbon pricing mechanisms to create a level playing field on carbon costs and avoid carbon leakage, in order to enable the net-zero business case and incentivise large scale investment in net-zero technologies and products.
  • Unlock the full circular economy potential of the cement and concrete value chain by prioritising the use of, and improving access to, residual waste and by-products as alternative (non-fossil) fuels and materials (e.g. implementing landfill bans; recognising the positive CO2 impact of co-processing in carbon accounting schemes, recognising co-processing in the Basel Convention through a dedicated R15 code).
  • Accelerate the adoption of low carbon cements and concrete products (including cements with new chemistries and compositions) through dynamic changes to product standards and public procurement policies.
  • Tackle (non-regulatory) systemic barriers to enable the optimisation of concrete design & construction and prioritisation of CO2 performance, alongside other objectives at the procurement, design and construction stages.

See here a full list of public policy asks.

Delivering impacts along three dimensions

By joining forces, governments, the industry and value chain partners in the ecosystem can deliver notable impacts along three dimensions:

  • Making low-carbon cement manufacturing investable – Have tailored policy support and targeted public finance in place to lower the financial risks associated with the use of low carbon technologies to help make low carbon cement manufacturing investable.
  • Creating market demand for carbon neutral construction and decarbonised value chains – Long-term success of innovation supported by regulatory frameworks and standardisation that establish market demand for low carbon products and lead to a market transformation.
  • Providing the infrastructure for circular and net-zero manufacturing – Deliver the required shared infrastructure that enables actors in the built environment ecosystem to operationalise the transition to a sustainable low-carbon economy and move towards decarbonised manufacturing and markets.

Call to action for policymakers

We encourage policymakers, politicians and stakeholders to pledge their help to implement policy asks in the GCCA’s Concrete Future report and to join the MPP dialogues on building a sector transition strategy at COP26 and afterwards. 

Act today by engaging with partner companies and organisations in your home countries to put the recommendations into practice.

Mission Possible Partnership

Pledge from industry and built environment value chain partners

We, the undersigned, pledge to work with fellow members of the cement and concrete industry to develop the regulatory and economic framework that is necessary to successfully implement the GCCA’s ‘Concrete Future’ net-zero roadmap and decarbonise the cement and concrete value chain.  The MPP-CAC will foster the development of a comprehensive Cement and Concrete Transition Strategy by convening all stakeholders in the built environment ecosystem.

We also recognise that policies which put a price on carbon, lower lifecycle emissions through recyclability, accelerate production and use of low-carbon products through standards and procurement, and provide shared industrial infrastructure, will be vital to decarbonise many essential-to-abate industry sectors, not just cement and concrete. The concrete industry will collaborate with other such industries—through MPP and other initiatives—to ensure that the steps that governments take in one sector will deliver benefits in multiple sectors across their economies.

For more information, please contact [email protected].

signatories

GCCA members

  • Asia Cement Corporation
  • Breedon Group
  • Buzzi Unicem S.p.A.
  • Cementir Holding N.V
  • Cementos Argos S.A.
  • Cementos Moctezuma
  • Cementos Molins S.A.
  • Cementos Progreso
  • Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A
  • CEMEX
  • China National Building Materials
  • CIMSA CIMENTO
  • CRH Group Services Ltd
  • Dangote Group
  • Dalmia Cement
  • Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua S.A.B
  • HeidelbergCement
  • Holcim Group
  • JK Cement Ltd
  • JSW Cement
  • Nesher Israel Cement Enterprises Ltd.
  • Medcem Madencilik
  • Orient Cement Ltd
  • Schwenk Zement KG
  • SECIL
  • Shree Cement Ltd
  • Siam Cement Group (SCG)
  • Siam City Cement Ltd
  • Taiheiyo Cement
  • Taiwan Cement Corporation
  • Titan Cement Group
  • Ultratech Cement Ltd
  • Unión Andina de Cementos S.A.A (UNACEM)
  • Vassiliko Cement Works Public Company Ltd
  • Vicat S.A
  • Votorantim Cimentos
  • West China Cement
  • YTL Cement Bhd

GCCA affiliates

  • Asociación de Productores de Cemento (ASOCEM) - Peru
  • Associção Brasiliera de Cimento Portland (ABCP/SNIC) - Brazil
  • Betonhuis - Netherlands
  • Federation of the European Precast Concrete Industry (BIBM)
  • Cámara Nacional del Cemento (CANACEM) - Mexico
  • European Cement Association (CEMBUREAU)
  • Cement Concrete & Aggregates (CCA) - Australia
  • Cement Association of Canada (CAC)
  • Cement Industry Federation (CIF) - Australia
  • Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) - India
  • Cement Manufacturers Ireland (CMI/IBEC)
  • Concrete NZ - New Zealand
  • European Ready Mixed Concrete Organisation (ERMCO)
  • European Federation Concrete Admixtures (EFCA)
  • Federacion Interamericana del Cemento (FICEM) - Colombia
  • Federacion Iberoamericana del Hormigon Premezclado (FIHP) - Colombia
  • Japan Cement Association (JCA)
  • Korea Cement Association (KCA)
  • Mineral Products Association (MPA) - UK
  • National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) - USA
  • Portland Cement Association (PCA) - USA
  • The Spanish Cement Association (Oficemen) - Spain
  • Association of German Cement Manufacturers (VDZ) - Germany

Supporting Companies & Organisations

  • Baker Hughes
  • Blue Planet Systems
  • Boston Consulting Group
  • Carboncure
  • Climate Group
  • École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne
  • Energy Transitions Commission
  • FLSmidth
  • Fluor
  • Future Cleantech Architects
  • GCP Applied Technologies
  • Mission innovation Net-Zero Industries Mission
  • Mott MacDonald
  • Payne Institute for Public Policy
  • RMI
  • SNC-Lavalin
  • Svante Technologies
  • United Nations Industrial Development Organization
  • We Mean Business Coalition
  • World Business Council for Sustainable Development

in cooperation with

  • Clean Energy Ministerial Industrial Deep Decarbonisation Initiative
  • The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
  • German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy