The UK has been something of a leader when it comes to decarbonisation efforts over recent decades. However, an uncomfortable statistic has recently come to light through new research published in The Telegraph: up to 15% of the reduction in the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions over the past decade has been due to industrial decline.
Whilst the world continues to rapidly approach, and break, climate red lines with seemingly casual abandon (RIP ‘keep 1.5 alive’), and any decarbonisation gains are to be appreciated, achieving them inadvertently, rather than through the UK’s globally impressive decarbonisation projects, clearly isn’t the right approach.
This most recent news also comes in the wake of the announcement from the Mineral Products Association that UK cement production had fallen to its lowest level since 1950 – a year when the country was still recovering from the Second World War, George VI was still on the throne, and rationing was still in place.
Nobody who wants to see economic growth (the UK government, for example) wants to see industries close – particularly industries that supply essential products like cement. To quote Dr Diana Casey, Executive Director for cement and lime at the Mineral Products Association: “Cement quite literally underpins the nation’s growth and we can’t deliver new homes, schools, hospitals, transport links, or clean energy infrastructure without it. The UK has a choice: to build these vital development projects with UK-made cement, or to build them with imports – sending jobs, investment, and economic growth overseas.”
And if carbon-intensive products, like cement, are no longer being produced in the UK where there is relatively stringent emissions regulation, then where are they coming from? The MPA points out that cement imports to the UK have nearly tripled from 12% of sales in 2008 to 32% in 2024. UK cement manufacturers have found themselves caught between some of the world’s highest energy costs and uneven carbon taxation that means importers (especially those from outside of the EU) pay much less for their emissions.
Not only is that bad for UK cement producers from a commercial perspective, it also risks the offshoring of emissions, undermining domestic decarbonisation efforts, and setting back attempts to combat climate change.
All of this goes to demonstrate how decarbonisation is a multifaceted challenge, one where policy is just as important as technology; where CBAM is just as much a part of the solution as CCUS. The good news is that, despite these hurdles, the UK is poised to continue its role as a leader in decarbonisation as the government throws its weight behind major projects like HyNet (including Heidelberg Materials’ Padeswood CCS, the follow-up to Brevik CCS) and the Peak Cluster, which will ultimately decarbonise more than 40% of the UK’s entire cement output.
If you’d like to hear more about both the technologies and the policies driving the cement industry’s net zero transition, then join us at EnviroTech 2026, taking place in London on 15 – 18 March. Early-bird registration is now open: www.worldcement.com/envirotech
