Switzerland: The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has informed policymakers that the best current route to reduce carbon emissions from cement production is through the increased use secondary cementitious materials and by encouraging the development and uptake of carbon capture. Alternatively, the development of new chemistries for building materials could help the situation but this is not expected in the short to medium term.
The report noted that 12Gt of CO2 equivalent was released directly and indirectly in 2019 from buildings and emissions from cement and steel use for building construction and renovation. These emissions included indirect emissions from offsite generation of electricity and heat, direct emissions produced onsite and emissions from cement and steel used for building construction and renovation. In sections of the IPCC report yet to be finally approved the authors said, “Cement and concrete are currently overused because they are inexpensive, durable, and ubiquitous, and consumption decisions typically do not give weight to their production emissions.”
Overall, the report concluded that average annual global greenhouse gas emissions from 2010 to 2019 were at their highest levels in human history but the rate of growth had slowed. The IPCC has called on “immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors” for any chance for society to limit global warming to 1.5°C. To do this global greenhouse gas emissions would have to peak before 2025 at the latest and be reduced by 43% by 2030. However, even if this did occur, it would take until the end of the 21st century for the temperature threshold to be stabilised.
