The World Business Council for Sustainable Development's (WBCSD) Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI), currently co-chaired by Lafarge and Taiheiyo Cement, has called on G8 members and the UNFCCC to accelerate the creation of a policy framework that will allow the development of effective sectoral approaches.

At a meeting in Paris, Bruno Lafont, chairman and CEO of Lafarge, was joined by the president of the WBCSD, Bjorn Stigson, in encouraging the concept of sectoral approaches to be discussed at the next G8 Summit.

"While discussions are under way to reach a global climate agreement, complementary sectoral approaches could be put into place under which key industry players could work together to accelerate CO2 reductions." explained Stigson.

The cement sector is best placed to adopt a sectoral approach on CO2 emissions, thanks to a CO2 measuring and reporting protocol developed in 2002 by the CSI. This protocol is now being used by 80% of the world's cement industry.

"As an industry, we are leading in the adoption of tools that can be used to target climate change," said Lafont. "Member companies of the CSI have set voluntary individual CO2 reduction targets, which are delivering encouraging results, and we have today announced a significant drop in emissions per tonne of cement produced by our members."

Figures released by the CSI show that the average net specific emissions per tonne of cement of its 18 members have fallen from over 760 kg CO2/tonne in 1990 to 670 kg in 2007. This reduction equates to CO2 savings in 2007 of over 70 million tonnes, compared with 1990 performance.

"These results are encouraging and show that reducing CO2 intensity in cement is possible," commented Lafont. "To go further, we are calling on G8 members and the UNFCCC to accelerate the creation of the necessary policy framework for effective sectoral approaches."

As part of its work on identifying actions that cement manufacturers can take to improve the sustainability of their industry, the CSI developed the first global cement database, charting CO2 and energy, with independently verified data. It is the accurate collection of data of this type that will prove crucial in the successful application of sectoral approaches by industry.

"There are a number of benefits with sectoral approaches," said Stigson. "They offer a way of mobilizing emerging economies in CO2 mitigation. This is important when we consider that 80% of emissions in the cement sector come from developing regions. Sectoral approaches also enable a small number of key industry players, or indeed countries, to become engaged quickly."

Cement is strategic for any country's development. The amount of cement consumed continues to rise as emerging countries pursue their legitimate economic development goals and their populations become more urbanized. However, by demonstrating that emissions per tonne have been reduced, and designing a model for sectoral approaches that can be transferred to other industries, the CSI is hopeful that sectoral approaches will be recognised by G8 as viable and complementary to a global climate agreement.

More information on the WBCSD's Cement Sustainability Initiative is available at www.csiprogress2007.org