New research by InfluenceMap finds that the European cement industry is not disclosing the financial risks it would face in response to a meaningful price on carbon, while continuing to undermine regulations that would enable such a price.
These findings will be debated by InfluenceMap and CEMBUREAU (the cement sector's main European trade association) at an event hosted by Carbon Market Watch on November 30th in Brussels. This comes a year after the signing of the Paris Agreement and ahead of a crucial vote on the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) in the European Parliament on December 8th.
Cement production accounts for 5% of total global greenhouse gas emissions and evidence suggests that even with a low price on carbon effectively implemented the profits of the sector would collapse. The sector appears to have responded to this threat by shaping the EU ETS to suit its existing GHG intensive industrial practices through intense policy engagement in Brussels.
InfluenceMap's analysis of corporate engagement with climate policy shows that, out of 15 industrial sectors, cement is the most negatively engaged apart from oil and gas.
