Sustainable Development

Lafarge has taken position on diverse issues, notably:

• Revision of the European directive relating to the emissions quotas trading scheme (EU-ETS). Lafarge welcomed the adoption of the climate and energy package in December 2008 that determines a challenging CO2 emissions reduction target (- 21% in 2005-2020):
  • Lafarge, as a leader in its sector, has already significantly reduced its emissions.
  • We advocated for the recognition of the cement sector's exposure to "carbon leakage": we sought to avoid distortion of competition and maintain the competitiveness of the European industry while preserving the environmental goal of the directive.
  • We are convinced that the European Union has paved the way for an ambitious international agreement to address the issue of climate change.


• At an international level, the Group recognizes that although several ambitious objectives were not achieved at the Copenhagen conference (December 2009), positive aspects did emerge:
  • raising of global awareness with significant involvement by governments, companies, NGOs and public opinion,
  • the diversity of discussions and clarification of challenges, especially in relation to tackling deforestation and the development of an international funding mechanism for further actions
  • the announcement of firm commitments by several countries including Brazil, Japan, China and the United States.
  The Copenhagen conference paves the way for a more ambitious future agreement and legitimizes initiatives undertaken by some companies in specific sectors to reduce their environmental footprint in a coordinated way. This is the case of Lafarge along with 20 cement manufacturers within the framework of the Cement Sustainable Initiative (CSI).

• Revision of the European Industrial Emissions Directive (IED, formerly IPPC).
  The directive defines and recommends BATs ("best available techniques") for every industry, as well as their associated limits. Depending on local conditions (geographical, environmental, etc.), it is not always possible to adhere to these recommendations. When this is the case, Lafarge promotes the flexible approach which existed in the previous directive, provided that relevant justifications are given for any deviation from the standards.

• Access conditions for the cement industry in China.
  As co-chair of the Chinese Cement Association, Lafarge has been consulted for the drafting of a policy related to access conditions for the cement industry in the country that will be adopted and published in 2009. The Group focused on requirements regarding:
  • safety,
  • occupational health,
  • air emissions,
  • and quarrying.
  
  

Please refer to the 2008 Sustainability Report about the Group's public positions:

In our view, responsible lobbying requires compliance with 3 major principles:

• transparency, notably including the annual publication of our public positions,
• regular dialog with our stakeholders,
• conformity with our sustainable development commitments described in our Sustainability Ambitions 2012.

Lafarge endeavors to play a leadership role by promoting the involvement of external trade associations, and the debate and promotion of progressive positions on the issues relating to the Group and our industry.

Accordingly, the Group recognizes the benefits of trade associations and is a member of several associations at international, regional, and local level.

These associations represent:

• The building materials sector. Examples? The Chinese Cement Association, the National Stone Sand and Gravel Association (United-States), and Cembureau and Eurogypsum (Europe).
• Private companies, such as the World Business Council in Sustainable Development (WBCSD) at international level or the Association française des entreprises privées (AFEP) in France.