The path to carbon neutrality

Our purpose is to build a better future, and in order to do that we must address humanity’s most pressing issue: climate change. As one of the world’s largest building solutions providers, climate action has been a priority for CEMEX for many years. We are fully aware that our production processes have a carbon footprint.

According to the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA), the cement industry is responsible for about 5% - 8% of the world’s CO₂ emissions. We also know that our end-product, ready-mix concrete, is the most used man-made material in the world and plays an essential role in society’s development and growth. This sets the stage for us to contribute to climate change mitigation by reducing CO₂ emissions in our production processes, as well as the entire life cycle of our products.

The program now focuses on achieving sustainable excellence through climate action, circularity, and natural resource management with the primary objective of becoming a net-zero CO₂ company.

Buildings

Buildings image

Climate Action Goals and Ambitions

Recognizing that global climate action goals require stronger efforts, and ensuring sustainability is at the core of everything we do, we created Future in Action, a program focused on developing lower-carbon products, solutions, and processes to become a net-zero CO₂ company.

The objective is clear: achieving carbon neutrality. In order to reach it, we are setting aggressive decarbonization goals with a very specific roadmap to achieve them, and working with external partners to validate and endorse our commitments.

Our ultimate goal is to become a net-zero CO₂ company by 2050. To ensure we are on the right track, we have set the most ambitious 2030 targets available to the industry:

2030

Scope 1 Goals*

47% less of CO₂ per ton of cementitious material

35% less of carbon content in concrete

Scope 2 Goals

65% in clean electricity consumption

Scope 3 Goals**

25% reduction in CO₂ per ton of purchased clinker and cement

30% reduction in transport emissions

40% reduction of scope 3 emissions per ton of purchased fuels

42% reduction in absolute scope 3 emissions from the use of traded fuels

* vs. our 1990 baseline
** vs. our 2020 baseline.

2050

To become a net-zero CO₂ company

Our Focus

Future in Action recognizes that the opportunity for reducing emissions is not limited to the production process but to the entire life cycle of our products, as well as transforming the industry’s value chain.

Future in Action focuses on significantly reducing direct and indirect CO2 emissions from our operations, as well as providing sustainable and innovative solutions for society.

To do this, the program concentrates in four pillars.

Sustainable Products & Solutions

Decarbonising our Operations

Circular Economy

Water & Biodiversity

Innovation & Partnerships

Promoting a Green Economy

Results

Our past efforts and achievements to reduce carbon emissions, primarily focused on the cement production process, have proven successful. In fact, the technology and processes we need to achieve our 2030 goals have already been tested and are implemented in some of our operations, and need only be scaled.

Results

Global Alignment and Validation

Our 2030 and 2050 goals and commitments are aligned and validated by the Science-Based Targets initiative according to the “Well Below 2ºC Scenario”, so that we contribute to meet the Paris Agreement goals and comply with the Business Ambition for 1.5°C by the United Nations.

We joined the United Nations’ “Race to Zero” campaign, and as of November 2021 we are a founding member of the First Movers Coalition, an initiative of the World Economic Forum to create market demand for zero carbon solutions.