Forty of the world’s leading cement and concrete manufacturers recently join forces to accelerate the shift to greener concrete by pledging to cut CO₂ emissions by a further 25% by 2030, marking a decisive step in the race to ‘Net Zero’ concrete by 2050.  Whilst CEMEX has already committed to this individually, it is the first time a global group pledge has been made.

The move by the members of the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) marks the biggest global commitment by an industry to net zero so far – bringing together companies from the Americas, Africa, Asia, including India and China, and Europe. It follows the September announcement during New York Climate Week that the GCCA has become the first global ‘heavy’ industry accelerator for the UN’s global Race to Zero. GCCA members account for 80% of the global cement industry volume outside of China, and also include several large Chinese manufacturers.

The GCCA has published a detailed roadmap which sets out the path that the industry will follow to fully decarbonise by 2050, a target aligned with the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5°C. The roadmap actions between now and 2030 will prevent almost 5 billion tonnes of carbon¹ from entering the atmosphere compared to a business-as-usual scenario, equivalent to the CO₂ emissions of almost 15 billion passenger flights from Paris to New York.

Concrete is the most used human-made material on the planet with approx. 14 billion cubic metres produced every year for use in everything from roads to bridges, tunnels to homes, and hydropower installations to flood defences. Concrete is an essential element of construction, with no other material equalling its resilience, strength and wide availability. Production of cement, the key ingredient in concrete, accounts for around 7% of global CO₂ emissions. The new 2030 commitment by the GCCA outlines a significant acceleration in the pace of industry decarbonisation.

The GCCA Global Net Zero Roadmap can be found here or visit:  https://gccassociation.org/concretefuture/

To view a video explaining the GCCA roadmap, featuring our CEO Fernando Gonzalez, click here