The company says the framework further aligns its corporate sustainability commitments (including providing low-carbon and net-zero CO2 products) to its financing strategy, as part of its Future in Action programme.
CEMEX adds that the framework establishes the company's guiding principles when issuing new sustainability-linked financing instruments, such as public bonds, private placements, loans, derivatives, working capital solutions and other financing instruments.
Sustainalytics, an independent firm that specialises in providing ESG research, ratings, and data to institutional investors and companies, has validated the framework’s alignment with the sustainability-linked bond principles, the International Capital Market Association’s climate transition finance handbook, and the Loan Market Association’s sustainability-linked loan principles.
“Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our time, and we will continue to address it as a fundamental component of our business strategy,” said Maher Al-Haffar, CEMEX's chief financial officer. “CEMEX is committed to increasing the role sustainable finance plays in its capital structure by potentially linking the cost of financial instruments to the achievement of targets, directly aligning our corporate finance strategy to sustainability commitments and further contributing to a low-carbon future.”
CEMEX has taken what it says is a bold step by including three KPIs, an unusually high number for the building materials industry, in the framework. It adds that this decision reflects the confidence and commitment the company has regarding its climate action targets. Selected KPIs are net CO2 emissions per ton of cementitious product, clean electricity consumption and alternative fuels rate. All of them were qualified by Sustainalytics as relevant, material, ambitious, and aligned with the company’s climate action strategy.
The company says the three indicators are directly contributing to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and for each one CEMEX has established 2025 and 2030 Sustainability Performance Targets (SPTs). KPI performance and corresponding SPTs will be verified by qualified external parties and be made available through CEMEX’s annual Integrated Report.
CEMEX’s 2030 target of reaching below 475 kg CO2 per ton of cementitious product is aligned with the Science-Based Targets initiative’s (SBTi) “Well Below 2°C Scenario”, the most ambitious for the cement industry. This target is currently in the process of validation. The company has also set a 2050 goal of delivering net-zero concrete globally, aligned with the Paris Agreement.
In addition, CEMEX recently announced that it has signed the Business Ambition for 1.5°C commitment led by the We Mean Business Coalition in partnership with the SBTi and the UN Global Compact. The company also joined The Race to Zero Campaign of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
