We're dedicated to positively impacting nature by preserving, restoring, and enhancing it at every step of our value chain. We prioritize the preservation of water, recognizing it as humanity's most precious resource. We strive to carry out our business activities responsibly and sustainably, minimizing environmental impacts and maximizing value for society.
We know how important it is to care for our planet's non-renewable resources. Water is vital for Cemex's operations, and it has implemented a Corporate Water Policy to increase efficiency, minimize waste, and enhance water circularity. We're also passionate about protecting biodiversity, which is crucial for human life.
We've implemented plans to enhance biodiversity around our quarries and are committed to being "Nature Positive" by 2030. We're even doing our part to combat climate change with our El Carmen Nature Reserve, which can store up to 12 million tons of CO₂! We work with partners and have earned 30 certifications from organizations like the Wildlife Habitat Council. At Cemex, we're committed to doing our part for the planet
To optimize water use and protect the ecosystems we rely on, we have implemented a comprehensive process that prioritizes sites with the highest water-related risks and significant commercial impact.
Our Water Action Plans offer a customized set of response actions to mitigate specific water risks for each community. We adopt recommendations based on the Water Risk Filter tool from the World Wildlife Foundation, ensuring we take the necessary steps to manage water effectively and sustainably.
We’ve set new 2030 targets on freshwater withdrawal reduction, strengthening our water policy principles and taking us a step further in our water strategy. Our objective is to switch to non-freshwater consumption instead of fresh water, which competes with human and agricultural consumption. By increasing water use from treatment plants, rain, and residual from other industries, we aim to access enough water and reduce the pressure aggravated by climate change and competing priorities.
Cemex is committed to preserving land, biodiversity, and ecosystem services beyond its operations to mitigate climate change and promote healthy natural ecosystems. The company's three-layered strategy focuses on enhancing biodiversity in and around its quarries, implementing rehabilitation plans, and developing local Biodiversity Action Plans (BAPs).
Cemex's Biodiversity Action Plans (BAPs) guide operational sites to incorporate biodiversity management into their standard processes. The company's 2030 goal is to have BAPs for all active sites identified as High Priority. Cemex has extended its biodiversity strategy to achieve third-party certifications for its conservation efforts in sites that do not overlap with high-value biodiversity areas.
The company has 58 sites in five countries with third-party conservation certifications issued by leading environmental organizations such as the Wildlife Habitat Council, ECOCERT, Texan by Nature, and Croatia's Ministry of Environment and Energy.
We conduct an environmental impact assessment before commencing any earthwork to identify and evaluate potential risks and extraction opportunities.
Our goal is to minimize the impact by prioritizing low-risk activities and halting extraction in areas of high biodiversity.
We have a rehabilitation plan in place during and after extraction activities in our quarries to restore ecosystem services to their pre-extraction state.
Finally, a Biodiversity Action Plan is sought to compensate for any irreparable damage to the impact area.
Cemex aims to reverse biodiversity loss by adopting a Nature Positive approach in all its global operations. During 2022, Cemex U.K. developed a pilot framework to measure progress in their nature positive efforts. Assessments included evaluating existing habitats, ecosystem integrity, climate resilience, invasive species impact, and conservation status of species.
By 2025, Cemex will define the nature positive baseline for all operations to start relevant actions and achieve progress by 2030. Cemex will conserve and restore ecosystems and reintroduce species to help nature recover and flourish by 2050, working in all quarries.
