The entire South African cement and concrete industry is threatened by multiple challenges of economic decline, the crisis in the construction industry, cheap imports and environment-related issues, industry organisation Cement & Concrete South Africa (CCSA) says in a statement.

It highlights a key challenge facing the sector as its significant carbon footprint.

CCSA explains that the challenge to the industry’s sustainability amid climate change lies in the fact that cement manufacturing emits significant quantities of greenhouse gases (GHGs), which impact South Africa’s decarbonisation commitments as it moves towards net zero, within the framework of the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET-IP).

“As responsible stakeholders committed to playing our part in South Africa achieving its Nationally Determined Commitments (NDCs) in terms of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the local cement sector has committed itself to ‘Vision: Net-Zero Carbon by 2050'.

“This includes an undertaking to decarbonise in accordance with the 1.5 ˚C global temperature increase pathway in the Paris Agreement and re-enforced at COP26 held in Glasgow last year.

“The local cement and concrete sector has set key milestones for 2030 in accordance with South Africa’s Technical Reporting Guidelines and in line with the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change reporting framework,” outlines CCSA CEO Bryan Perrie.

He avers that the cement and concrete sector in South Africa is steadfast in its GHG reduction commitment.

“We are absolutely committed to our 'Vision: Net-Zero Carbon by 2050' and will measure this regularly against a series of time-bound metrics.

“With so much at stake, the sector is in discussions with the South African International Trade Administration Commission and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition to take positive action to prioritise its local cement industry.

“And while we remain hopeful of a boost from the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium, this has not yet materialised,” Perrie comments.

Newly published government regulations do not require localisation of products such as cement and concrete, leaving this to individual departments and State-owned enterprises.

Therefore, Perrie emphasises that more is required to secure the sustainability of a sector impacted by both the global pandemic and a decade-long slowdown in South Africa’s planned infrastructure build out.