Ethiopia, alongside Cambodia, Ghana, Tanzania, and Uganda, has officially joined an international coalition backing the global “Blend Better Cement” campaign. The announcement coincides with Climate Week NYC, bringing the total number of nations supporting the Intergovernmental Council for Buildings and Climate (ICBC) initiative to twelve.
The campaign unites governments, industry leaders, and climate organisations to accelerate national policies promoting lower-carbon blended cement. Concrete remains the world’s most widely used building material, accounting for roughly 7% to 8% of global carbon emissions. With the United Nations estimating that 75% of the infrastructure existing by 2050 has yet to be built, experts emphasize that material choices made today will dictate emission trajectories for decades to come.
Blended cements substitute traditional, carbon-intensive clinker with alternative supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), such as calcined clay, limestone fines, and industrial by-products. This approach reduces emissions by up to 50% per tonne compared to ordinary Portland cement while preserving essential structural strength, durability, and cost-efficiency.
To drive market adoption, the newly joined governments have pledged to deploy policy instruments such as updating national building standards and prioritizing blended cement in public procurement. Because public entities represent major consumers of concrete, direct governmental procurement serves as an essential catalyst for creating immediate market demand and scaling supply.
The five new nations join an existing coalition that includes Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Kenya, Luxembourg, and New Zealand. This momentum builds as policymakers look toward upcoming major climate forums, including COP31—co-hosted by Türkiye, where clinker usage in public projects is already capped at 80%—and COP32, which will be hosted by Ethiopia in 2027.
Highlighting the country’s dedication to the initiative, Dawit Alemu Beshah, Project Manager for the Climate Change Sector Reform Performance Project at the Ethiopian Ministry of Industry, noted the domestic and environmental advantages of the shift.
“Ethiopia has no doubts about scaling blended cement,” he said. “It uses clean energy, strengthens our industry, and makes the most of the raw materials we are blessed with. It’s not just an environmental story, but one about competitiveness and industrialisation.”
Spearheaded by a partnership including the UNEP-hosted Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC), the ICBC, the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA), the Cement and Concrete Breakthrough Agenda, the LC3 Project, Climate Group, and Systemiq, the campaign emphasizes commercially viable technology capable of immediate impact.
