| External Management Frameworks |
The Cement Sustainability Initiative Our parent company, Holcim Ltd, is a founding member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI), which aims to explore what sustainable development means for the cement industry, and identify and facilitate actions that cement companies can take, as a group and individually, to accelerate the move toward sustainable development. The CSI brought together ten of the world’s leading cement companies and the WBCSD. A key component of the initiative is the active engagement of the broader cement industry, and other relevant stakeholders, on sustainable development issues of concern to the cement industry. In July 2002, following a three-year program of research and stakeholder consultation, the leaders of the ten participating companies launched an “Agenda for Action” on sustainable development. The Agenda is a series of joint projects and individual actions that the companies will carry out in six key areas: climate protection, fuels and raw materials, employee health and safety, emissions reduction, local impacts, and business processes. The CSI will be reporting on its progress every five years. |
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Pew Center on Global Climate Change: Business Environmental Leadership Council Since 1998, Holcim (US) has been a member of the Business Environmental Leadership Council of the Pew Center, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public on and providing solutions for climate change. As a member, Holcim has agreed to the following Joint Statement of Principles: • We accept the views of most scientists that enough is known about the science and environmental impacts of climate change for us to take actions to address its consequences. • Businesses can and should take concrete steps now in the United States and abroad to assess opportunities for emission reductions, establish and meet emission reduction objectives, and invest in new, more efficient products, practices, and technologies. • The Kyoto agreement represents a first step in the international process, but more must be done both to implement the market-based mechanisms that were adopted in principle in Kyoto and to more fully involve the rest of the world in the solution. • We can make significant progress in addressing climate change and sustaining economic growth in the United States by adopting reasonable policies, programs, and transition strategies. |
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Southeast Michigan Sustainable Business Forum Holcim (US) is a founding member of the Southeast Michigan Sustainable Business Forum (SMSBF). The SMSBF is comprised of a group of leading companies and organizations in southeast Michigan who share the conviction that a successful future must be built upon a strong commitment by the business community to the simultaneous pursuit of economic prosperity, environmental quality, and social equity. Members of the forum work together to understand the critical links between these three areas in order to integrate this understanding into Holcim (US) daily operations. |
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United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Climate Leaders Program In 2002, EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman recognized Holcim (US) as a charter member and inaugural participant in the agency’s Climate Leaders Program. Climate Leaders is a voluntary EPA-sponsored industry/government partnership that challenges businesses to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions through a comprehensive climate change strategy. In September of 2002, Holcim (US) set an EPA Climate Leaders goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 12% per ton of product manufactured between 2000 and 2008. This goal is in addition to a 15% reduction of carbon dioxide emissions per ton of product manufactured that was achieved between 1990 and 2000. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development carbon dioxide measurement protocol is used to calculate Holcim (US) carbon dioxide emissions. |
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United States Business Council for Sustainable Development (USBCSD) As part of its commitment to sustainable development, in 2004 Holcim (US) accepted an invitation to become a member of the United States Business Council for Sustainable Development, a regional partner organization of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. The USBCSD is an association of businesses whose purpose is to create and deliver value driven sustainable development projects in the United States and act as a voice for the US business community on sustainable development issues. |
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