Global Cement Industry supports major talks in Paris on decarbonising built environment

6^th March:  GCCA and France Ciment Media Release

Leading organisations from the cement and concrete industry are attending international talks in Paris, which it is hoped, will agree a framework to decarbonise the built environment. The Global Buildings and Climate Forum, which takes place over the next two days, involves discussions between government ministers, local authorities, businesses, and other stakeholders, from across the world.

Today, the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) together with France Ciment, the national industry cement body in France, held an official side event at the Forum. The joint event was exploring the positive role of cement and concrete in the large-scale deployment of sustainable, decarbonised and resilient buildings.  

More than 1,000 delegates from across the world are expected to attend the Global Buildings and Climate Forum, over the next two days. The forum has been co-organised by the French government and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), to develop an agreement on how to cut emissions in the built environment. It follows the official launch of the Buildings Breakthrough initiative at COP28 in December last year. The UN Breakthrough Agenda aims at strengthening international collaboration on the decarbonisation of high-emitting sectors.

Thomas Guillot, CEO at the GCCA, spoke at today’s official side event, hosted by the GCCA and France Ciment. Mr Guillot said.

“Our industry has been leading the way on decarbonisation through the implementation of our 2050 Net Zero Concrete Roadmap. Cement and concrete will obviously continue to play a vital role in the built environment, due to concrete’s in-built properties such as resilience and resistance to damage from heat, wind, fire and floods, especially as our climate changes. And as our Roadmap sets out, we are committed to fully decarbonising this essential material.   

“Architects, designers and developers across the bult environment can also play their part in using our material with reuse and repurpose in mind and using concrete more efficiently in the future, to reduce embodied carbon in new structures.”

Bruno PILLON, Chairman, France Ciment, said:

“France and the whole world will still need to rely on cement and concrete for future infrastructure, especially as three-quarters of the infrastructure that the world needs by 2050, has yet to be built. But it’s really important that the cement and construction sectors, governments and suppliers all work together to achieve our net zero goal. In France, the cement industry sector has published its decarbonisation roadmap a few months ago, with a target of halving the carbon emissions by 2030, compared to 2015”

Karen Scrivener is a Professor and Director of the Laboratory of Construction Materials at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland and an inventor of the calcined clay cement technology. She is also a member of the Council of Engineers for the Energy Transition (CEET) and UN SDG 10-Member Group to advise the United Nations Secretary-General. 

She said: “Ultimately, we’re constrained by the materials we have on earth. There’s no overnight replacement for cement. However, the development of calcined clays, which are widely available, offers the world an exciting opportunity to reduce CO₂ emissions in cement production.”

For further information or interview requests please contact:
Océane Vilminot – 07 84 90 83 16 – oceane.vilminot@coriolink.com

Urielle Dutartre – 06 62 82 71 62 – urielle.dutartre@coriolink.com

Simon Thomson, Head of Media, GCCA :0044 7380 972282 simon.thomson@gccassociation.org

More about Buildings and Climate Global Forum here

More about Breakthrough Agenda here

More about Buildings Breakthrough here:

More about Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction here:

About the GCCA : The GCCA and its members account for 80% of global cement production capacity outside of China, as well as a growing number of Chinese manufacturers. Member companies have committed to reducing and ultimately eliminating CO2 emissions in concrete, which currently account for around 7% globally, through implementation of the GCCA’s Concrete Future 2050 Net Zero Roadmap – the first heavy industry to set out such a detailed plan, Together, GCCA is committed to building a bright, resilient and sustainable concrete future for the industry and for the world. Home : GCCA (gccassociation.org)

À propos de FRANCE CIMENT FRANCE CIMENT est l’organisation professionnelle regroupant les industriels producteurs de clinker et de liants hydrauliques : ciments, chaux hydrauliques et liants routiers. Présentes en France au travers d’une quarantaine de sites industriels, les entreprises regroupées au sein de FRANCE CIMENT emploient près de 4 500 personnes et génèrent un chiffre d’affaires annuel de 2,4 milliards d’euros. L’industrie cimentière française regroupe cinq sociétés productrices de ciment : Heidelberg Materials, Imerys SA (Imerys Group), Lafarge France (Membre du groupe Holcim), Eqiom (CRH Company) et Vicat.www.france-ciment.fr