Launch of the 'Cement Green New Deal Committee'... Initiating a Major Shift to a Low-Carbon Economy

Cement Industry Joins '2050 Carbon Neutrality Vision'
Strengthening International Cooperation with World Cement Association (WCA) and Others

The appearance of the cement factory after being replaced with eco-friendly facilities. The photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article.
Photo by Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy Reporter Junhyung Lee] The cement industry has rolled up its sleeves to achieve carbon neutrality through greenhouse gas reduction.

The Korea Cement Association announced on the 17th that it will form and launch the 'Cement Green New Deal Committee' with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to join the government's '2050 Carbon Neutrality Vision' last year. The committee will work on deriving concrete measures for a low-carbon economic transformation, including preparing a roadmap for the development of innovative technologies necessary for carbon neutrality.

At the launch ceremony, the cement industry officially expressed its commitment to actively participate in carbon neutrality by signing the '2050 Carbon Neutrality Challenge Joint Declaration.' Fifteen people attended the ceremony, including Lee Hyun-jun, chairman of the Korea Cement Association and co-chairman of the committee, Professor Kim Jin-man of Kongju National University, Kang Kyung-sung, Director of Industrial Policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and representatives of seven major cement companies.

The joint declaration includes plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by expanding the use of circular resources (alternative fuels) in the short term, and by utilizing low-carbon raw materials and improving process energy efficiency, with innovation technology development and production structure transformation as strategies. In the mid to long term, the plan is to realize a carbon-circulating cement production process through the development of low-carbon cement production technology and carbon capture and conversion technology.

Additionally, the committee plans to discuss joint tasks, strengthen mutual cooperation systems, discover and improve government policy tasks, and prepare plans to establish new carbon-neutral business models linked with downstream industries. It will also lead efforts to realize a global low-carbon society by strengthening international cooperation with the World Cement Association (WCA) and overseas cement industries.

The association explained that the launch of the committee reflects the cement industry's prioritization of social responsibility over management issues, recognizing the urgency of responding to climate change. According to the association, the cement industry is relatively disadvantaged in securing greenhouse gas reduction measures compared to other industries such as steel and automobiles due to the inherent characteristics of its manufacturing process, which inevitably emits greenhouse gases.

Lee Hyun-jun, chairman of the Korea Cement Association, said, "Carbon neutrality is a goal achievable only with innovation across the entire industry as well as the interest and cooperation of all citizens," adding, "The cement industry will actively take the lead in realizing carbon neutrality through the development of innovative technologies and transformation of production structures."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.