Building a Stronger Partnership for Net Zero – LeadIT at Almedalen

Cemvision and the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) were welcomed to the Leadership Group by the Indian Ambassador to Sweden, Tanmaya Lal and the Swedish State Secretary for Climate and Environment, Daniel Westlén as part of the Engaging India at Almedalen event “Samband for Climate”.

As new members both SAIL and Cemvision have committed to align to the Paris Agreement to achieve decarbonisation by 2050 but face different challenges ahead.

For Cemvision the decarbonization challenge is to bring a new process to market and truly establish themselves as world leaders for net zero cement. The company is less than five years old but now has the financial backing needed to scale up production of their cement made from industrial waste materials like slag from steel making. By replacing virgin limestone from the process a major source of CO2 emissions is removed and by using non fossil fuel energy sources in production emissions are further reduced.

By contrast SAIL, the Steel Authority of India, has seven decades of history as a major steel producer.  As one of the largest steel producers in India SAIL faces the significant challenges posed by the inherently carbon intensive nature of steel production and, like the vast majority of the Indian steel industry, a historical reliance on coal.   As the demand for steel in India is predicted to grow in the coming decades – SAIL joining LeadIT and its vision is one important step in a journey to reduce carbon emissions at scale.