Cement Industry Energy and CO2 Performance “Getting the Numbers Right”

The Getting the Numbers Right (GNR) system is a sector-wide global information database that provides accurate, verified data on the cement industry's CO2 emissions and energy performance. In addition to CSI members, CEMBUREAU, the European Cement Association, collects information from non-CSI cement plants in Europe, ensuring nearly complete coverage of all cement installations there.

Cement production by companies participating in the GNR initiative increased by 53% from 1990 to 2006, whereas absolute net CO2 emissions increased more slowly, by only 35%, showing evidence of a decoupling of production and related emissions.

To date, the GNR is the system with the widest data coverage in the cement industry, providing aggregated data on more than 800 individual cement facilities worldwide over more than 100 countries. The database currently includes data for the years 1990, 2000, 2005 and 2006. (Data-collection started with 2005, but information for the years 1990 and 2000 were also collected to provide a baseline for comparisons.) Program participants from the CSI began independent third-party assurance of their CO2 emissions information with 2006-data.

The database is independently managed by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), who provide data security to manage antitrust and confidentiality concerns. Participants and interested parties can only see aggregated data on global and regional performance.