The Concrete Action for Climate initiative was launched by the World Economic Forum and the Global Cement & Concrete Association (GCCA) in an acknowledgement that no single organisation can make it to net zero on its own. The initiative is part of the Mission Possible Partnership and is uniting companies from the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe, making commitments to Net Zero.
Through this initiative, 40 of the world’s leading cement and concrete manufacturers, including CEMEX, HeidelbergCement, Holcim Group and China National Building Materials (CNBM), have joined forces to cut CO2 emissions by 25% by 2030 (from 2020), and achieve Net Zero concrete and cement by 2050.
Faustine Delasalle, co-executive director of the Mission Possible Partnership, says that energy and finance companies and NGOs may now share a vision of what the future holds but moving to implementation requires another step-up in collaboration and openness from the top.
"But it becomes trickier and trickier as you go into the nitty-gritty of what needs to happen in the next five to ten years because its starts hitting the bottom line," Delasalle added. "So it also entails a whole new level of trust, probably in smaller groups of stakeholders that have an incentive to work together on particular projects to get projects off the ground."
The Concrete Action for Climate initiative says the pledge to decarbonisation and Net Zero by its members will prevent almost 5 billion tonnes of carbon from entering the atmosphere by 2030, equivalent to the CO2 emissions of almost 15 billion flights from Paris to New York.
Concrete is the most used human-made material on the planet with 14 billion cubic meters produced every year for buildings and infrastructure - from roads to bridges, tunnels to homes, and hydropower installations to flood defenses. The production of cement, the key ingredient in concrete, accounts for around 7% of global CO2 emissions.
