The World Cement Association (WCA) has welcomed commitments from the UK, India, Germany, Canada and UAE to support new markets for low-carbon cement and concrete at COP26.
“I’m delighted to see that governments are heeding our call for urgent action to accelerate decarbonisation of the cement industry around the world, and we look forward to hearing more details from the UK, India, Germany, Canada and UAE on the steps they will take,” said Ian Riley, WCA CEO.
“This commitment marks a hugely significant shift in mindset that we hope will be followed by other countries in the months ahead. When it comes to hard to abate industries like cement, it is vital to work together with governments to create the conditions in which we can get to net-zero and beyond as quickly as possible – we cannot do this alone, in time.”
At COP26 in Glasgow on Wednesday, Riley called on governments to take action in three key areas to encourage faster adoption of low-carbon technologies in the cement and concrete industries:
- Promote a market for low-carbon concrete by encouraging its use in publicly-funded building projects
- Review and update product standards to allow low-carbon concrete to be used in a wider range of applications
- Create the right market incentives for developing and using low-carbon cement and concrete technologies via carbon pricing, subsidies or other economic mechanisms
The WCA estimates that if governments around the world respond to the WCA’s call and take action now, annual emissions of CO2 from cement and concrete could be cut by 30% or 900 million tonnes per year by 2030.
