| In Europe, these efforts have found expression in the formation of a body of corporate houses called the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. The key word is sustainable development here. And the pressure is from the top. |
| As WBCSD member and vice-president of French company LaFarge, Olivier Luneau says: "Every European country has a target to meet. And each company in these countries has its own specified targets on permitted emissions. Every work-site gets a quota." |
| The WBCSD has been working together to find solutions to make low carbon growth possible. And within WBCSD is an entity called the Cement Sustainablility Initiative. Just three companies LaFarge, Holcem of Switzerland and Cimpor of Portugal joined hands to form this in 1990. |
| Today the platform has 18 companies including Indian firms like Sri Cement and Ambuja cement. |
| "We want more" says Luneau, who was in India to launch the energy efficient building initiative of WBCSD here. The condition before each member company joining the CSI is to commit to reduction targets. Once targets are set, the companies get a third-party to audit the performance, says Luneau. |
| WBCSD, on its part, feels that while the Kyoto Protocol limited signatories to cutting emissions by seven per cent, with specific targets for each country, the new formula should be more sectoral. |
| And it should follow a policy of rewarding companies which meet more than their targets while not penalising if they failed. It could be a kind of carbon credit, says Luneau. If the company meets more that the target, it should be allowed to encash the difference, he says. |
| While US has kept out of the Kyoto Protocol, all American cement companies are today part of CSI. And all members are promoting the energy efficient building programme which is the joint CSR initiative of the member companies. |
| Already, the energy efficient building programme has been showcased in Brussels and Beijing before it was brought to Delhi. |
| The three-year project will take the lessons of low energy buildings to all stakeholders including architects, builders, users, besides NGOs and governments. |
| WBCSD is bringing out three detailed reports on low energy buildings. The first phase report was a survey of buildings in six countries. And the second phase is to focus on "zero net energy" building designs. |
| In India, WBCSD and the low energy building initiative has partnered with The Energy Research Institute under its chairman R K Pachauri. |
| Olivier Luneau, Vice-President, LaFarge |
| Is the energy efficient buildings initiative of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development a CSR project of member companies? |
| Yes. We believe we should work with others. All stake holders including builders, architects and users besides companies are in it. |
| How low energy is it? |
| Buildings are an important source of CO2 emissions. So we decided to fund part of this project. A building after construction emits 85 per cent of CO2. |
| So our goal is to first dig up data on energy needs of various buildings and then create a data base of low energy designs. |
| It is today one of the most powerful and better financed project with over 1400 architects in eight countries working on it . We are working on designs for zero net energy buildings. |
| Are you getting support from US companies? |
| Very much. All US cement companies are with our Cement Sustainability Initiative. They agree with us that companies should not only be given targets for emission cuts but allowed to encash if they over-achieve. |
| How is cement industry cutting emissions? |
| Cement is carbon intensive. It needs heat and a tonne of cement has 650 kilos of CO2. While 40 per cent comes from heat, rest comes from limestone which is heated. |
| We are promoting a better process of making cement that involves less heat. We use an alternative raw material. This is spreading across the CSI members. |
Explore Business Standard