CEMBUREAU position on COP21

As world leaders convene in Paris to discuss a new binding international climate change agreement aiming at limiting global warming below 2˚C, CEMBUREAU, the European Cement association, said it is closely monitoring the COP 21 negotiations as climate policy is relevant both for the cement manufacturing process as for the use of the downstream product, concrete. With the actions it sets forth in its 2050 Low Carbon Roadmap, the cement industry is fully in line with the goal to keep temperature rise below 2˚C.

CEMBUREAU said in a statement yesterday that it is calling for a legally-binding international climate change agreement that provides a long-term, stable and reliable environment to encourage investments and support plans to reduce CO₂ emissions further and to adapt to climate change. Therefore, the agreement needs to include:

• An international level playing field for industries through
  • covering the major emitting jurisdictions (80 per cent of global cement production) and certainly the US, India and China (the EU represents 3.8 per cent of global cement production whereas China represents 56.5 per cent)
  • ensuring a comparability of pledges in terms of:
  (i) scope of each jurisdiction’s pledge and especially the inclusion of the power sector, transport, households and potential CO₂ and energy-efficiency benefits from the use of downstream products
  (ii) the reduction target and reference year
  (iii) coverage of both CO₂ and energy efficiency
  (iv) coverage of CO₂ from combustion and processes
  • foreseeing in comparable monitoring and accounting rules.
•  If the comparison shows an uneven playing field for a specific jurisdiction or sector, appropriate measures need to be foreseen to ensure global competitiveness.
• Appropriate attention needs to be given to the role of downstream products of energy-intensive sectors, such as concrete for the cement sector, in reducing CO₂ emissions, increasing energy efficiency and responding into climate change adaptation.

In its low-carbon Roadmap, which is fully in line with the goal to keep temperature rise below 2˚C, CEMBUREAU presents a vision for the sector whereby the cement carbon footprint could be reduced by 32 per cent compared with 1990 levels, using mostly conventional means. It also describes potential levers for how this could be further increased by the application of emerging new technologies, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) or re-use (CCU).