Two of the world’s top producers of cement-based building products -Holcim and Heidelberg Materials -are participating in the United Nations environmental summit COP28 in Dubai.
Circular construction technologies and supplying the world with low-carbon building materials are the themes these companies are promoting.
The world’s leading cement producer, Holcim, became a founding member of the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s (SMI) Circularity Task Force, launched at COP28, to accelerate the global shift to a circular economy.
This task force aims to close essential material loops to advance climate action while preserving nature’s resources and planetary boundaries.
This commitment adds to Holcim’s leadership in circular construction, a driver of its decarbonization journey, which includes recycling more than 10 million tons of construction demolition materials by 2025.
The Circularity Task Force is aligned with the Terra Carta charter, putting nature, people and the planet at the heart of global value creation through real economic action.
Jan Jenisch, Chairman and CEO of Holcim, noted, “With our world’s rising population and urbanization, we need to build better with less to raise living standards for all while preserving nature”.
He believes that Circularity is a game-changer to make this happen at scale, adding, “At Holcim, we are driving circular construction across all metropolitan areas where we operate to build cities from cities, recycling construction demolition materials into new building solutions.”
By building cross-sector collaboration, Holcim, together with the other founding members of the Circularity Task Force – Gemini Corp, Dubai Airports, Investcorp, and LGT Group – will champion tangible, scalable and sustainable circular business practices while raising awareness about supportive regulatory frameworks.
Also at COP28, Heidelberg Materials is promoting its recently launched evoZero® cement, the world’s first carbon-captured net-zero cement.
Heidelberg will host a special event at COP28 to discuss policy- and market-driven instruments to accelerate the deployment of low-carbon construction materials with policymakers and construction value chain leaders.
Anja Hajduk, State Secretary, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Germany, will join Dr Nicola Kimm, Chief Sustainability Officer and Member of the Managing Board, Heidelberg Materials, to discuss Building a Net-Zero Future by Promoting the Demand for Low-Carbon Building Materials. Register here for participation: http://bit.ly/49WvC1M
Heidelberg Materials launched the EvoZero earlier this year at its plant in Brevik, Norway. Jon Morrish, Member of the Managing Board of Heidelberg Materials responsible for the Group area Europe, noted at the Revik Lunch event, “With evoZero, we now offer our customers across Europe a new and unique solution to strengthen their market position.”
The importance of low-carbon building materials as part of the overall goals of the UN Summit cannot be understated.
“Cement and concrete are vital for the modern world, and there is no time to lose in reaching net zero.”
These comments by UN Secretary-General António Guterres were part of his address to 200 industry leaders at a Global Cement and Concrete Association GCCA Leaders Conference earlier this year in Zurich, which focused on decarbonizing the future.
Mr. Guterres supported the industry’s efforts towards net zero, saying he wanted to see concrete pledges from the concrete industry.
He told the conference that concrete is “fundamental to building a better world, and we have no time to lose if we are to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees centigrade.”
He noted, “Many challenges remain, which we must overcome, if we are to achieve net zero, including enabling policies and regulations from governments across the world, which often don’t yet exist.”
The world’s leading cement and concrete industry players are addressing many of those challenges. The action taken so far is outlined in a new report by the Global Cement and Concrete Association entitled Cement Industry Net Zero Progress Report. The report released at COP28 highlights the leading role that companies worldwide play in decarbonizing this essential global industry.
Those challenges are now being addressed at COP28. Readers can follow developments at COP28 here:
