WCA announces Global Conference speakers

‘Navigating the Climate Challenge: Reducing Carbon and Reducing Costs’, Dubai, 25–28 September

THE World Cement Association (WCA) has announced the line-up of speakers for its 5th annual conference and exhibition, which will take place in person from 25–28 September 2022 at the Emirates Towers, Dubai, UAE.

The conference will focus on practical steps that can be taken today to reduce both the carbon footprint and the costs, based on the regional roadmap developed by WCA’s partner for the conference, A³&Co.

The speakers will cover many pressing issues faced by the cement industry, including the industry response to climate change, impact of high energy costs, energy efficiency, alternative fuels, new technologies, financing, and managing human capital.

Mahendra Singhi, managing director and chief executive officer of Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd will deliver one of the keynote addresses at the Conference on the topic of ‘Grey to green - Reducing carbon for integrated value creation’.

Mr Singhi is a director of the WCA and has been actively promoting both the need for climate action by the cement industry and the business opportunities this can bring. Under his leadership, Dalmia Cement have become the cement company with the lowest global CO2 emissions per tonne.

Other speakers and panellists will include:

• Nigel Topping, UN Climate Change High-level Champion at COP26, who will speak on ‘The road to COP 27 and COP 28’
• Amr Nader, co-founder and CEO of A³&Co., who will be a key speaker on the MENA roadmap and its implications
• Roland van Wijnen, CEO of PPC Ltd, who will give his views on ‘Rethinking cement in a changing world: Decarbonization as an opportunity’
• Nik Gowing, founder at Thinking the Unthinkable and one of the world’s leading conference facilitators and moderators, who will be the conference chair
• Suhair Abu Salem, human capital and communication director at A³&Co., who will speak on ‘Reinventing cement talent for a net-zero world’
• Arnaud Pinatel, managing partner at On Field Investment Research, who will be looking at the ‘Outlook for the cement sector worldwide’
• Ehab Shalaby of DCarbon Egypt, who will discuss ‘Steps on the road to net zero: today’s actions’
• Matthias Mersmann, CTO and member of the board of KHD Humboldt Wedag, who will speak on 'Bringing the future cement plant into reality’
• Yousra Elsayed, principal of EBRD, who will give a policy bank view of the challenges facing the industry
• Didier Bourbon, vice-president of sales Asia for Fives FCB, who will talk about various technologies that are available today to reduce carbon and improve profitability.

The conference will provide a unique opportunity for industry stakeholders, chief executive officers, and other executives, particularly those in the MENA region, to come together in preparation for the upcoming COP27 in Egypt and the following COP28 in the UAE.
Ian Riley, chief executive officer of the WCA, said: ‘I’m very much looking forward to meeting many of my colleagues from around the world in person again after so long, and discussing some of the advances our industry has made, as well as improvements that are necessary to confront the major and urgent environmental and technological challenges that the cement sector faces.

‘This year’s conference will bring together industry leaders and experts to promote effective investments and tangible decarbonization efforts ahead of inevitable regulatory changes, and set out a sectoral decarbonization framework that accelerates industrial excellence.’

The full line-up of speakers can be found here. For further information and to register, visit: www.worldcementassociation.org