The initiative, co-led by Canada and the UAE, will enable countries to share best practices on various policies and other measures to help the cement and concrete industry decarbonise. The initiative also commits to working with countries, businesses and other organisations to accelerate investments in the technologies, tools and policies needed to help the industry achieve net zero by 2050.
The Cement and Concrete Breakthrough Initiative was launched at CO28 on 6 December by François-Philippe Champagne, Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, His Excellency Omar Ahmed Suwaina Al Suwaidi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Andrew Noseworthy, Assistant Deputy Minister Clean Technologies, Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Canada.
The GCCA attended today's launch of the Cement Breakthrough Initiative at CO28. Earlier this week (4 December), the GCCA also hosted a roundtable on the initiative, attended by Francois-Philippe Champagne, Abdulla Sami Alshamsi, Assistant Undersecretary, Industrial Development and National Content Sector, UAE, Assistant Deputy Minister Andrew Noseworthy, and other key industry figures.
Thomas Guillot is the Chief Executive of the Global Cement and Concrete Association. He said: "We support and welcome the launch of the cement breakthrough initiative. Cement and concrete are essential for so much of our modern world and will also be needed for meeting the challenges ahead. They will play a key role in providing resilient and sustainable infrastructure and safely housing communities around our planet.
"Our member companies, which operate all around the world, are fully committed to a net zero future—and it will take the combined efforts of industry and government to deliver on this commitment. This is the decade to deliver, and we are delighted to work with the cement breakthrough initiative and the Government of Canada to accelerate the transition."
