Partnerships

By signing a global partnership in 2000, Lafarge was the first industrial player to become a WWF ‘Conservation Partner'.

First renewed in 2005, a new partnership has been signed in 2009 for 4 years. The objective: formalize a shared ambition to combine economic constraints, environmental and people respect in order to reduce the Group's environmental footprint.

In 2009, Lafarge and WWF have jointly identified key areas of work to which the Group has made practical commitments:

• Climate change;

• Persistent pollutants;

• Water consumption;

• Biodiversity;

• Sustainable construction.

This global partnership enables the Group to draw up action plans which can be adapted at a local level, responding to Business Units' needs and challenges. To foster local partnerships between Lafarge's Business Units and national WWF offices, the partnership management teams provide financial support, guidance and follow-up for projects implemented on the ground.

So far, 11 local initiatives have been launched:

• Austria: rehabilitation of the Mannersdorf quarry and creation of the Biodiversity Index.
• Kenya: forest conservation in the Shimba Hills area and development of bio fuels.
• Canada: conservation of fauna and flora through an extensive mapping program ensuring the protection of the region's large predators.
• Spain: ecological rehabilitation of the Yepes-Ciruelos quarry.
• Romania: biodiversity and rehabilitation of the Matasaru quarry, located in a Natura 2000 area.
• USA: biodiversity and ecosystem valuation in the Presque Isle aggregates quarry.
• Northern Ireland: quarry rehabilitation and development of an eco-tourist and sustainable housing project.
• Philippines: sustainable construction, assessing the life cycle of blended cements.
• France: eco-friendly rehabilitation of WWF France HQ, work on existing biodiversity indicator and a working group on sustainable construction.
• Canada: sustainable and economic implementation of renewable biomass fuels.
• China: low carbon building and hotel construction; waste recycling management in cities to develop the use of solid wastes as an alternative fuel in cement manufacturing. Capacity building for decision makers.

Watch videos of the different local initiatives which have been implemented in the framework of a local partnership.

Since 2003 and the 1st partnership, Lafarge has worked alongside CARE in the fight against HIV/Aids by implementing prevention, screening and treatment programs.
A Health Committee for the African region has also been set up to establish indicators, coordinate actions and share best practices. The Committee is made up of a health coordinator from each subsidiary, a Group representative, a CARE representative and a medical adviser.

With the renewal of the partnership in 2009, Lafarge and CARE have chosen to work together on 3 programs:

• Health: spreading the methodology of combating Aids and malaria to other countries.
• Method: developing a tool for assessing the social and economic impact on local communities of the actions implemented by the Group in emerging countries.
• Housing: launching a program aiming to enable the poor in emerging countries to have access to higher-quality housing.