The cement sustainability initiative – implementing change across a global industry

Today many companies are examining operations in the context of sustainable development. The Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) is a major initiative across an industry to fundamentally alter the way it operates. Established under the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the 10 founding companies produce more than one‐third of the world's cement. The industry is faced with increasingly strong legislative and stakeholder pressure, specifically regarding how to meet environmental and corporate social responsibilities. The companies wanted to understand what sustainable development really means for them. The project is one of the largest transformative projects ever to be initiated by an industry – an industry responding to change by instigating fundamental changes in the way it does business. It is an acknowledgement that the industry's licence to operate, competitiveness, profitability and long‐term survival are inextricably linked to meeting their environmental and corporate social responsibilities.