Eric Olsen elected chairman of the CSI

LafargeHolcim CEO to become new chairman of the Cement Sustainability Initiative in 2017

ERIC Olsen, chief executive officer of LafargeHolcim, will become the new chairman of the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) in 2017, as confirmed yesterday by the organization’s annual CEO meeting in Madrid.

LafargeHolcim are one of the founding members of the CSI, which is part of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and was launched in 1999 with the aim of supporting the progress of the global cement sector toward sustainable development.

The CSI unites 23 major cement producers with operations in more than 100 countries. Collectively, these companies account for around 30% of the world’s cement production and range in size from very large multinationals to small local producers.

‘It is an honour for me to be chairing this important industry organization in the coming year,’ said Mr Olsen (pictured). ‘Sustainability in the construction sector is not the preserve of one organization. I will focus on ensuring that the CSI continues to play an important role in building collaboration within our industry and encouraging joint action across the entire value chain.

‘As one of the largest global sustainability programmes ever undertaken by a single industry sector, we have a real opportunity to drive change. Our plans are ambitious and we are conscious that we will only achieve them by working together.’

In 2017, the members of the CSI agreed to concentrate their efforts on the most material topics, among others: health and safety; actions to further reduce CO2 emissions; increasing awareness of concrete as a sustainable building material; the launch of a responsible sourcing scheme for concrete; and the development of common metrics to measure social performance.