Gulf Construction Online - WCA backs COP28 pact on low-carbon cement

UAE Focus

Rushan ... major challenge.

WCA backs COP28 pact on low-carbon cement

01 January 2024

The World Cement Association (WCA) has endorsed the COP28 agreement to work for low-carbon development in the cement industry.

The Cement and Concrete Breakthrough launched by Canada and the UAE at the COP28 conference in Dubai, along with an inaugural cohort of endorsing countries that include the United Kingdom, Ireland, Türkiye and Germany, strives to make clean cement the preferred choice in global markets, with near-zero emission cement production established and growing worldwide by 2030.

Accounting for seven per cent of global emissions, carbon emissions reduction and capture is a major challenge the cement industry must face head on, if it is to make progress towards achieving green and sustainable development, said Wei Rushan, WCA President.

Technologies and solutions like alternative raw materials and fuels, upgrading processes and equipment to enhance energy efficiency, clean and new energies and carbon capture units are already widely applied in the global cement industry, and play a vital role in the cement industry’s zero-carbon transition, he said.

“Of course, different technologies and pathways are employed in different countries and regions, reflecting local geographic, market and economic conditions. For example, the European cement industry uses around 50 per cent alternative fuels, and the European producers have rich experience in this field. In Asia, especially in China, cement companies have been faster and more ambitious in adopting new technology R&D and application; for example China’s cement industry leads global peers in solar power and waste heat recovery (WHR) technologies,” he elaborated.

WCA will continue to proactively promote exchanges and collaborations in response to climate change, he added.