CEMEX European director of public affairs, Martin Casey, has commended the efforts of the Global Cement & Concrete Association (GCCA) for accelerating the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) agenda for Net Zero Concrete.
Casey says the Glasgow Climate Pact sends a clear message to the world. With decarbonisation “officially mainstream”, Casey believes the march to Net Zero is now accelerating at an incredible pace.
“Across the cement, concrete and aggregates industry, the magnitude of our task is clear, and, in the months and years ahead, we all will be critically reliant on increasingly robust environmental, social and governance measures to propel us forward at speed,” says Casey.
“We highly commend the efforts of the GCCA in leading the vital debate on behalf of the industry. The GCCA industry 2050 Net Zero Roadmap details how we collectively will fully decarbonise the cement and concrete industry to provide Net Zero concrete. Our own commitment to Net Zero Concrete has been realised through the introduction of our comprehensive family of low carbon products as well as CEMEX’s Future In Action programme, which puts us in a key leadership position to drive and support these aims.”
Casey says it was a privilege to attend the COP (Conference of the Parties) and of huge importance to take part. “We were enormously encouraged to see cement and concrete represented in many frontline debates. This has provided us with a great position to proactively engage and encourage further collaboration down the value chain with policymakers.
“The UN Summit clearly created a platform and sense of urgency to act fast and not waste the opportunity, which was echoed in the closing summary by COP26 President Alok Sharma.”
As a founding member of COP26’s First Movers Coalitionpublic-private partnership, Casey says CEMEX is now working to leverage global purchasing power to create markets for emerging CO₂ emissions reduction technologies. This will accelerate and scale collective impact towards the worldwide realisation of emissions reduction targets.
He continues: “We are encouraged by the specific progress made in completing the Paris Agreement negotiations. In particular, in relation to moving Article 6 forward. The first step to having a definition of rules for CO2 offsets to be traded between ETS markets, countries and private entities (by 2023 to 2025).”
Looking ahead to Egypt’s COP27, Casey says he hopes to see the Global Climate Fund agree to allow US$100 billion in funding from developed countries to set up creative schemes with governments in developing countries for R&D and new technologies.
“As we enter a new year with a fresh set of challenges, a continuous focus on collaboration and collective commitment is now critical to our industry’s Net Zero success,” he concludes.
