“Collective actions and individual commitments driving sustainable solutions of the cement sector”
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)’s Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) has marked 10 years of progress with the release of its 2012 Progress Report. The report provides a snapshot of the Initiative’s achievements and an outlook on the future sustainability challenges the cement industry faces.
This Progress Report talks about how the cement industry has changed significantly since 2002 and how the CSI has been successful in adding value and contributing to truly sustainable solutions.
Much has happened in the last decade, since CSI was founded, with CSI’s members growing to 24 companies (as of 2012) and now representing around 30% of global cement production in diverse geographic regions such as South America, Europe and Asia. While many of the key sustainability issues identified in 2002 are still high on the agenda, new challenges have also emerged, as sustainability has become more deeply embedded in the way cement is manufactured and used.
Moving on to the second decade of the 21st century, businesses are not only expected to manage their own response to sustainability challenges but also to help society deal with wider issues. The CSI Progress Report talks about how the cement industry has changed significantly since 2002 and how the CSI has been successful in adding value and making contribution to sustainable solutions through the development of transparent and commonly agreed methodologies, and by facilitating the sharing of good practices among members.
Coinciding with the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), the 2012 CSI Progress Report underlines the role the cement industry has to play towards achieving a more sustainable future, identifying 9key issues which are shaping the industry’s sustainability agenda now and in the future:
- Safety
- Climate protection
- Fuels and raw materials use
- Air emissions
- Local impacts on land and communities
- Water
- Supply chain management
- Sustainability with concrete
- Working with others