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Holcim Ltd

HOL

Holcim is a global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions.

Lobbying Activity

Holcim urges landfill bans and incentives for co-processing

5 Nov 2025
Topic — The consultation addresses the proposed Circular Economy Act to enhance sustainable production.
Message — Holcim calls for strict landfill bans and higher taxes to drive recycling. They demand that co-processing in cement kilns be recognized as a high-grade recycling activity. Additionally, the company supports EU-wide harmonized criteria for recycled construction materials.123
Why — These policies would create a stable market for Holcim's circular products and fuel.45
Impact — Landfill operators face higher costs and reduced business from the proposed disposal bans.67
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Meeting with Stéphane Séjourné (Executive Vice-President) and

28 Oct 2025 · High Level Dialogue with Industry executives on the implementation of CBAM.

Meeting with Wopke Hoekstra (Commissioner) and

28 Oct 2025 · High Level Dialogue with Industry executives on the implementation of CBAM

Meeting with Kurt Vandenberghe (Director-General Climate Action) and BASF SE and AIR LIQUIDE

2 Jun 2025 · CCS-project Kairos@C

Meeting with Anna Cavazzini (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur) and Philip Morris International Inc. and

19 Mar 2025 · Public procurement

Meeting with Stefanie Hiesinger (Head of Unit Climate Action)

10 Mar 2025 · The Clean Industrial Deal and information on progress of Innovation Fund projects

Meeting with Tatiana Marquez Uriarte (Cabinet of Commissioner Kadri Simson)

10 Jun 2024 · Meeting with Mihai Florea

Meeting with Maroš Šefčovič (Executive Vice-President)

19 Jan 2024 · Carbon Storage

Meeting with Kathleen Van Brempt (Member of the European Parliament)

22 Jun 2023 · Go4Zero strategy and transition towards a net zero industry

Meeting with Pascal Arimont (Member of the European Parliament)

27 Apr 2023 · Company visit

Meeting with Antoine Colombani (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans)

21 Mar 2023 · Decarbonisation of the cement sector; CCU/S.

Meeting with Pascal Arimont (Member of the European Parliament)

8 Dec 2022 · Decarbonisation of the cement sector

Meeting with Benoît Lutgen (Member of the European Parliament)

8 Dec 2022 · Large scale CCUS project in Wallonia,

Meeting with Ciarán Cuffe (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)

30 Nov 2022 · EPBD

Meeting with Daniel Freund (Member of the European Parliament)

3 Nov 2022 · Situation Hungary

Meeting with Delara Burkhardt (Member of the European Parliament)

21 Oct 2022 · Climate policy

Meeting with Helena Braun (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans) and European Aluminium AISBL and

20 Oct 2022 · circular economy and construction sector

Holcim warns EU carbon rules threaten industrial decarbonisation investments

17 Jun 2022
Topic — This consultation establishes a methodology for calculating greenhouse gas savings from recycled fuels.
Message — Holcim requests that captured industrial emissions be classified as avoided rather than released. They demand removing the 2035 deadline for using industrial carbon, extending support until 2050.12
Why — Recognising captured carbon as avoided ensures the economic viability of Holcim's investments.34
Impact — Inland cement facilities lose because they lack storage infrastructure and require carbon recycling routes.56
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Meeting with Ismail Ertug (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur) and Rud Pedersen Public Affairs Brussels and ChargeUp Europe

18 May 2022 · AFIR

Meeting with Philippe Lamberts (Member of the European Parliament)

10 May 2022 · State-of-the-art technologies to successfully bring the cement industry to net zero emissions

Response to Climate change mitigation and adaptation taxonomy

14 Dec 2020

LafargeHolcim welcomes the draft Delegated Act and the opportunity to provide feedback. We put three points forward for consideration. 1. Recognition of CO2 usage: For hard-to-abate sectors, carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) will be a necessary technology to achieve climate-neutrality. We are currently partnering in a number of large-scale CCUS projects across Europe which include projects to reuse captured CO2 as a feedstock (e.g. agricultural uses, production of synthetic fuels, etc). These technologies are due to play a specifically important role in areas where geological storage is not permitted and where carbon transport infrastructure is yet to be developed (ex. Germany or Austria). As it stands, the technical criteria for cement in the Delegated Act only mentions the transport and storage of CO2 but seems to disregard its utilisation in other processes despite the fact that it is recognised in article 10(1)(e) of the EU Taxonomy Regulation of June 22, 2020. We understand that the technical criteria for the use of captured carbon will be developed by the Sustainable Finance Platform. As all carbon capture technologies form an integral part of the net zero transition for industry, all technologies must be adequately recognised and incentivised in the transition to a net-zero economy, we support including a reference to CO2 utilisation in the Delegated Act. For instance, the Delegated Act could read as follows: "Where CO2 emitted from the manufacturing process is captured, the CO2 is transported and stored underground, in accordance with the technical screening criteria set out in Sections 5.11 and 5.12 of this Annex. Technical screening criteria will be developed for the use of captured carbon (e.g. as an industrial feedstock, fuel or mineralisation).” 2. The timing of implementation of the EU Taxonomy non-financial disclosure requirements: the implementation guideline for the non- financial disclosure requirements are foreseen for June 2021 but will need to apply by 1 January 2022 for the financial year 2021. Reporting on new metrics with a still unknown methodology, based on an EU ETS benchmark still to be validated means that we will have to do a retroactive reporting once the Delegated Act is published, which will represent a practical challenge. Although we support the intent, in practice it requires setting the necessary processes to collect the required information. We would therefore recommend implementing the non-financial disclosure requirements for Climate Mitigation and Adaptation on 1 January 2023 as for the other environmental objectives. 3. The particularity of white cement should be recognized through a dedicated metric and threshold to allow white cement producers access to green funding since a clear pathway to achieving net zero CO2 by 2050 exists for these producers. While the production of white clinker entails a higher energy consumption than the production of grey clinker, white cement brings benefits to the society in the form of improved energy consumption in buildings (light-coloured surfaces of white cement result in more energy reflected to space, resulting in less warming); energy savings (due to reduced need for artificial lighting); better road safety (through increased visibility). It would allow sustainable financing to extend to the CO2 reduction efforts currently undertaken by white cement manufacturers. We recommend the Delegated Act to include a specific metric for white cement, as the EU ETS regulation includes a benchmark for both grey and white cement clinker.
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Response to Revision of the EU Emission Trading System Monitoring and Reporting Regulation (MRR)

24 Jul 2020

Please find attached LafargeHolcim's perspective and proposals on the revision of the afore-mentioned MRR.
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Response to Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism

26 Mar 2020

LafargeHolcim supports the objectives of the Green Deal and is committed to contributing to the achievement of an EU carbon-neutral economy by 2050. Achieving the common objective of transitioning to carbon-neutral construction relies on ensuring the attractiveness of local production, while promoting innovative low-carbon investments and advanced technologies such as carbon capture use and storage, and creating demand for low carbon building materials and solutions. Competitive EU manufacturing anchored in the low-carbon transition will only happen if a level-playing field with non-EU importers is ensured with regards to carbon costs. With reduced Historical Activity Level (HAL) and emission factor benchmark, this prerequisite will be even more important during Phase IV of the EU ETS. The expected allocation deficit puts some 40 million tonnes of EU-manufactured clinker at risk of being offshored by 2030 (equivalent to >20% of the EU demand). The import of more carbon-intensive products to meet the demand for construction materials in Europe would slow down the low-carbon transition in the region. In this context, LafargeHolcim takes the view that the existing EU ETS needs to be complemented by a carbon border adjustment mechanism. It is a necessary measure to maintain a fair competition as the free allocations under ETS phase IV will not be sufficient to enable EU-based manufacturing to compete fairly with non-EU imports that do not have equivalent carbon costs. The objective must be for non-EU importers to bear the same CO2 costs as EU domestic producers. As EU ETS phase IV comes into force, free allocations are unlikely to cover the full carbon cost paid by EU manufacturers. A carbon border adjustment mechanism should: - cover that cost difference between the full carbon cost paid by European manufacturers minus the free allocations under EU ETS (free allocations that are awarded to EU producers must be discounted from the carbon costs levied on importers); - not lead to any changes to the EU ETS, nor impact the EU carbon market / budget; - be tested and phased-in in parallel with the continuation of EU ETS mechanisms, until it is fully and successfully operational and legally secured. For the cement sector, we take the view that measuring the CO2 content of imported clinker should be based on the standard CEN EN 19694-31, used by the cement industry to measure and report its CO2 emissions. It forms a globally harmonised methodology for the calculation of CO2 emissions from clinker and cement production. In practice, the charge (for the cement sector) could look like as follows: Carbon import charges (€/t clinker) = (verified emissions of import + associated transport emissions in kg CO2/t clinker) - (EU ETS clinker benchmark in kg CO2/t clinker * CSRF) multiplied by the carbon price (€/kg CO2). The carbon price used to calculate the charges must be as close as possible to actual spot prices, given the significant volatility that currently exists on the carbon market and uncertainties linked to a large list of factors (Brexit, coal plant closures, etc.). The use of past annual averages would more than likely not be representative of the situation in a future transaction. The carbon border adjustment mechanism must be tested and phased-in in parallel with the continuation of EU ETS mechanisms, until it is fully and successfully operational and legally secured. Attached: LafargeHolcim's full briefing on EU carbon border adjustment mechanism
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Meeting with Diederik Samsom (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans)

3 Mar 2020 · The European Green Deal

Response to Climate Law

6 Feb 2020

European Climate Law – Achieving Climate Neutrality by 2050 Feedback on the Roadmap Consultation by LafargeHolcim The European Climate Law will provide the policy backbone for the transition towards a climate neutral industry and economy at large. LafargeHolcim, leader in building materials and major industrial partner in Europe with more than 20,000 employees and 900 industrial facilities, supports the overall ambition of developing a competitive and climate-neutral Europe by 2050. The European Climate Law must provide the foundation for a transition period that responds to short-term needs (enabling investments to expand the potential of available technologies) and longer-term ambitions (accompanying risks and commitments associated with the deployment of advanced technologies, products and solutions). Referring to our sector of activity (construction and construction materials), we believe that achieving climate-neutral and circular construction is within our grasp. This will however require unprecedented collaboration: 1./ With policymakers who will play a leading role to facilitate the development of the business case that is necessary to guarantee short and long-term investments and develop market demand for low-carbon products and solutions. 2./ Across the construction sector to fully integrate sustainability performance across the value chain and alongside existing criteria (such as safety, cost and durability), in a way that respects the principles of material neutrality and lifecycle performance. Short-term policy priorities: 1./ Establishment of a Carbon Adjustment Mechanism (CAM): this forms a cornerstone for Europe’s competitiveness in a carbon neutral economy. As existing regulatory tools are bound to evolve, it will provide the carbon level playing field that is necessary for EU-based manufacturing to compete fairly with non-EU imports that do not have equivalent carbon costs. This is a must-have insurance to secure continued investments in low carbon technologies across European assets. 2./ Integration of carbon performance in building standards and codes, ensuring the principles of material-neutrality, life-cycle performance and full value-chain mobilisation. It forms a prerequisite to build customer acceptance and market-demand for low-carbon solutions. 3./ Enable resource-efficiency and fossil fuels substitution in energy-intensive sectors (such as cement manufacturing) by providing equal treatment across all sectors regarding the carbon-neutrality of non-fossil alternative energy sources. This is particularly important for residual waste streams that are co-processed in industrial activities and would otherwise be landfilled or incinerated. Longer-term policy priorities: 4./ Shift the focus of carbon pricing mechanisms from emissions to consumption. The adoption of carbon-neutrality in construction is tributary to the acceptance of carbon constraints and costs by all actors of the highly fragmented construction value chain. Carbon costs must progressively be absorbed in products and solutions in order to render the carbon-efficient products and solutions more competitive (thus reversing the current situation). This is necessary to build the necessary business case to deploy, on a large scale, advanced technologies such as Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) on the manufacturing side and low carbon binders on the product side. It requires a dynamic carbon pricing mechanism that is centered on carbon consumption, integrated across value chains and addressing both supply and demand. 5./ Lastly, the Climate Law must lay the foundation for transforming Europe’s industry around the strategic management and use of carbon as a resource. The deep transformation of Europe’s industrial tools will have to be facilitated by adequate State Aid mechanisms and lead to the development of strategic carbon utilisation clusters across the EU.
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Meeting with Daniel Calleja Crespo (Director-General Environment)

30 Jan 2020 · Cement sector contribution to the Green Deal

Meeting with Elżbieta Bieńkowska (Commissioner) and

4 Sept 2018 · Alliance of Energy Intensive Industries - 2050 strategy

Response to Commission Delegated Regulation establishing the Innovation Fund

21 Jul 2017

LafargeHolcim welcomes the revision of the ETS in order to further reduce carbon emissions. The proposed Innovation Fund (IF) can be an important milestone to further incentivize all types of low-carbon solutions in Europe. 1. The inclusion of CCS, CCU and carbonatation is essential to establish a truly technology neutral scheme supporting all potential low-carbon solutions. 2. The Fund should offer mainly grants combined with a milestone-based disbursement that takes into account upfront CAPEX needs. 1. CCS, CCU and carbonatation forming an essential part of a technology neutral Fund The wider scope of the IF – including energy intensive industrial sectors – is welcomed, since low-carbon innovations can dramatically reduce the embodied CO2 of buildings and structures over their lifecycle. However, the deployment – especially the large-scale commercialization – of these alternatives still requires a significant amount of technological and financial support, complemented by an effective carbon pricing (ensuring a level playing field across industrial sectors and across regions) and advancements on the standardization agenda. Technologies like changing the composition of concrete and cement or the production of building materials through carbonatation presents an economically and technically realistic way of reducing the GHG emission intensity of relevant sectors. These innovations – ones that have a real potential for large-scale replicability – should be recognized as equally important elements of the fight against climate change besides RES and CCS. This should be supported by a technology neutral Fund that, on the one hand, does not restrict eligibility by pre-determined technologies and that, on the other hand, ensures a flexible balance among the three eligible fields (industry, RES, CCS) and also among the different industrial sectors. We are confident that this approach would provide a real opportunity for European companies to remain competitive and to be at the leading edge of the development of low-carbon solutions. 2. Focusing on grants with a milestone-based tool that takes into account upfront CAPEX needs and that is compatible with other relevant financing instruments The increase of the size of the IF is welcomed as long as it does not significantly restrict the share of free allowances which would increase the pressure on industry and also the risk of a CSCF. The aim to lower the administrative burden is highly welcomed. This could be ensured by a simple, two-stage application process with multiple calls for proposals managed directly by the EC (see Summary Report of Expert Consultations p. 21). The fund should mainly offer grants that take into account upfront CAPEX needs to address the specific challenges linked to low-carbon, carbonatation and CCU investments. The possible increase of the funding rate to 75% is welcomed. A milestone-based disbursement of the award is highly welcomed and would highly enhance the conditions for project promoters to carry on with their projects (see Summary Report of Expert Consultations p. 23). The focus on better optimized and novel value chains is welcomed. It should be noted that low-carbon and carbonated building materials offer CO2 reduction over the entire construction value chain taking into consideration the whole lifecycle of these materials from extraction to recycling/reusing. In this sense, LafargeHolcim continuously takes a systematic and holistic value chain approach working on the R&D of these new products with partners spanning all the value chain.
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