Our Commitment And Pathway

The GCCA 2050 Cement and Concrete Industry Roadmap for Net Zero Concrete is the collective commitment of the world’s leading cement and concrete companies to fully contribute to building the sustainable world of tomorrow. 

01 / proportionate relates to per unit of product

Our roadmap sets out a net zero pathway to help limit global warming to 1.5°C. The sector is committed to producing net zero concrete by 2050 and is committed to acting now.

The industry has already made progress with proportionate01 reductions of CO2 emissions in cement production of 20% over the last three decades. This roadmap highlights a significant acceleration of decarbonisation measures achieving the same reduction in only a decade. It outlines a proportionate01 reduction in CO2 emissions of 25% associated with concrete by 2030 from today (2020) as a key milestone on the way to achieving full decarbonisation by the mid-century. The roadmap actions between now and 2030 will prevent almost 5 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions from entering the atmosphere compared to a business-as-usual scenario. 

Our roadmap represents a decisive moment for our industry and the world, demonstrating that it is possible, and setting out an achievable net zero pathway for the world’s most used human-made material. GCCA members pledge to achieve the roadmap aims, contributing in line with their position in the cement and concrete value chain.

The roadmap sets out the levers and milestones needed to achieve net zero across the whole lifecycle from cradle to cradle. It highlights the actions from the industry already underway and those it will undertake in the months and years ahead, as well as the important contributions from designers, contractors, developers and clients in the use of concrete in the built environment, and those from policymakers. 

We will succeed with the right policy support in place to shape demand for low carbon products (economic viability), enabling a transition of the sector and making full use of circular (economy) opportunities, as well as supporting the development and implementation of innovations and key infrastructure. 

The roadmap outlines this collective endeavour and our ‘Concrete Future’ which will guide us to a net zero future for society’s critical building material and for the world.

Net zero is used throughout this document with respect to the industry and its products and relates to reduction of CO2 emissions, across the whole life cycle, to zero. Carbon capture by our industry at our industrial plants is included amongst our actions to reduce carbon emissions to zero. Offsetting measures such as planting of trees or other nature based solutions are not included in the calculations to get to net zero. These offsetting measures are seen in some countries and regions as significant contributors to climate mitigation, but at a global level are not accepted within net zero definitions. 

Carbon neutral was used in the GCCA 2020 climate ambition statement and has the same meaning as net zero as defined above. 

Concrete refers to all cement-based products including mortar, render, cement-based plasters and precast cement-based products such as masonry units and cladding products.