Under the leadership of the UN Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC), member countries will negotiate a new international agreement on climate change at the COP21 meeting, to be held from 30 November until 11 December 2015 in Paris, France. For the cement industry, the meeting provides an opportunity to take stock, map the road ahead and prepare further action.

Subject to successful negotiations at COP21, the new international agreement on climate change, which begins from 2020 onwards, will seek to limit global temperature increases to 2˚C. The agreement will define how countries share efforts to reduce GHG emissions and agree on emission reduction targets for the next 15 years as well as in the longer term (eg, by 2050).

Meanwhile, in preparation for COP21 some 155 Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) have been announced, where each country outlines its intentions to contribute to global GHG emission reduction.