Government of Canada sets priorities for decarbonizing cement and concrete sector
By Adam Freill
Concrete Construction Construction MaterialsFederal government puts focus on international collaboration to accelerate near-zero emission cement production.
PHOTO: Adobe Stock/Hoda Bogda
In a follow-up to the launch of the Cement and Concrete Breakthrough initiative, co-led by Canada and the United Arab Emirates at the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, representatives from the two nations recently set out a plan to drive the decarbonization of the global cement and concrete sector.
Canada’s minister of innovation, science and industry, François-Philippe Champagne, and his counterpart, Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, minister of industry and advanced technology for the United Arab Emirates, took part in the introduction of the “Cement and Concrete Breakthrough Priority Actions.”
The plan outlines a set of sector-specific actions that seek to build on work that is underway and planned across the international landscape. The priority actions centre on five themes, including standardizing definitions, standards and certifications, and collaboration, education, innovation and scale-up of existing technology.
This aim is for the actions to help strengthen international collaboration on the decarbonization of the global cement and concrete sector, which accounts for approximately seven per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, driving progress toward making near-zero emission cement the preferred choice in global markets by 2030.
In addition, as part of its $5.3 billion climate finance commitment, Environment and Climate Change, Canada announced that it will be spending $8 million to help Thailand strengthen climate governance and decarbonize its cement and concrete sector.
“International collaboration is key to making real progress toward the decarbonization of cement and concrete,” said Champagne. “These priority actions are backed by numerous governments, all working toward the common goal of achieving near-zero emission cement, a product vital to the growth of global economies.”
In November of 2022, the Canadian government and the Cement Association of Canada launched the Roadmap to Net-Zero Carbon Concrete by 2050, an initiative to drive the elimination of more than 15 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions cumulatively by 2030, followed by ongoing reductions of over 4 million tonnes annually, from the production of cement and concrete in Canada.
