Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: The European Cement Association (CEMBUREAU) is strategically engaged with EU climate-related policies, taking mostly negative positions both in its top-line messaging and on specific climate-related legislation in the EU, such as the EU Emissions Tradings System (EU ETS).
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: CEMBUREAU takes mostly negative and ambiguous positions on climate ambition in its top-line messaging. The association supported a sector-based target to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 in Europe in a January 2024 position paper, and signed joint recommendations in support of the EU’s 2050 climate neutrality target in December 2024. However, CEMBUREAU does not appear to support climate change regulation in the EU. For example, CEMBUREAU CEO Koen Coppenholle signed the Antwerp Declaration in February 2024 which advocated against prescriptive regulations following the EU Green Deal targets, a position he reiterated in a March 2024 press release. InfluenceMap did not detect any positions on the UN Climate Treaty in 2023-25.
Engagement with Climate-Related Policies: CEMBUREAU supports several key pieces of climate-related legislation in the EU, however often with major exceptions that weaken the EU’s policy ambition.
The association supported the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) with significant exceptions in 2023-25. In its 2023 Activity Report, published in June 2024, CEMBUREAU advocated for ETS revenues to be spent on a dedicated fund to decarbonize industry. However, the association did not support reducing indirect cost compensation in December 2024 joint recommendations. In a January 2024 feedback comment, the association did not support ETS reforms to update free allocation rules, including changes to clinker benchmarks, as proposed by the EU Commission to increase the climate ambition of the policy. Similarly, CEMBUREAU supported the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (EU CBAM) in its January 2024 EU Election Manifesto 2024-29, and advocated against a delayed implementation of the policy in a January 2025 statement. However, the association appeared to advocate for export rebates in the EU CBAM in its Net Zero Roadmap, published in May 2024, a position which is misaligned with the EU Commission’s original policy ambition.
CEMBUREAU supports energy efficiency legislation with exceptions. In a June 2023 public consultation response, the association advocated for increased ambition of energy efficiency policy in line with the EU 2040 Climate Target. However, in its May 2024 Net Zero Roadmap and a January 2024 position paper, CEMBUREAU advocated for a material neutral approach to energy efficiency legislation, without clarifying how this would impact policy ambition.
CEMBUREAU engages on circular economy policies with unclear positions, for example supporting efficient use and recycling of construction materials without clearly supporting the need to prioritize reduce and reuse in a January 2024 position paper sent to the EU Commission.
CEMBUREAU supported measures to boost the deployment of renewables in the EU Electricity Market Design (EMD) reform with major exceptions, advocating for measures to be voluntary and technology neutral in a February 2023 consultation response.
Positioning on Energy Transition: CEMBUREAU expressed broad support for the decarbonization of cement production, however its engagement on decarbonization technologies like carbon capture is not in line with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommendations for the technology.
The association has broadly supported the decarbonization of cement production through a range of measures such as clinker substitution, carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies and the use of alternative fuels, for example in a March 2024 fact sheet. CEMBUREAU also signed a February 2025 joint letter on CCS in the Clean Industrial Deal in support of policies such as the EU’s Net Zero Industry Act, supporting increased development of CCS to decarbonize industry alongside a transition of traditional fossil-based industrial processes.
However, the association’s overall advocacy on carbon capture technologies does not appear to be aligned with the EU Commission or the IPCC. For example, the association supported the EU Hydrogen and Gas Decarbonization Package Delegated Act on the definition of low-carbon hydrogen with major exceptions in an October 2024 feedback comment, in which it advocated for the continued use of CCU to produce low-carbon fuels until at least 2050. Additionally, in a December 2023 position paper on the EU Certification Framework of Carbon Removals, CEMBUREAU advocated for fossil carbon captured through industrial processes and stored in products (CCU/S) to be certified as carbon removal. This would weaken the EU Commission’s original policy ambition.
InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the association’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q2 2025.