GCCA supports major decarbonising talks in Paris on the built environment

Leading organisations from the cement and concrete industry are attending international talks in Paris, where parties are hoped to agree a framework to decarbonise the built environment. The Global Buildings and Climate Forum, which take place this week, involves discussions between government ministers, local authorities, businesses, and other stakeholders, from across the world.  

The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) together with France Ciment, the national industry cement body in France, held an official side event at the Forum. The joint event was exploring the positive role of cement and concrete in the large-scale deployment of sustainable, decarbonised and resilient buildings. 
  
More than 1000 delegates from across the world are expected to attend the Global Buildings and Climate Forum, over the next two days. The forum has been co-organised by the French government and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), to develop an agreement on how to cut emissions in the built environment. It follows the official launch of the Buildings Breakthrough initiative at COP28 in December last year. The UN Breakthrough Agenda aims at strengthening international collaboration on the decarbonisation of high-emitting sectors.

Thomas Guillot, CEO at the GCCA, spoke at today’s official side event, hosted by the GCCA and France Ciment. Mr Guillot said. “Our industry has been leading the way on decarbonisation through the implementation of our 2050 Net Zero Concrete Roadmap. Cement and concrete will obviously continue to play a vital role in the built environment, due to concrete’s in-built properties such as resilience and resistance to damage from heat, wind, fire and floods, especially as our climate changes. And as our Roadmap sets out, we are committed to fully decarbonising this essential material.  

“Architects, designers and developers across the built environment can also play their part in using our material with reuse and repurpose in mind and using concrete more efficiently in the future, to reduce embodied carbon in new structures.”