Cemex CEO elected president of global cement organization

By Kevin Yanik| October 16, 2023

González

Fernando González, CEO of Cemex, was elected as president of the Global Cement & Concrete Association (GCAA).

According to Cemex, GCCA’s members account for 80 percent of global cement production capacity outside of China. They’ve committed to achieving net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050.

González, who has served as GCCA vice president since 2018, succeeds Jan Jenisch, the chairman and CEO of Holcim. González has been CEO of Cemex since 2014, joining the company in 1989 and leading several operational regions and corporate functions throughout his career.

“It is a great honor to be president of the GCCA, particularly as we enter this ‘decade to deliver,’ a period during which we must accelerate our decarbonization efforts,” González says. “My No. 1 priority as the new president of the GCCA is to collaborate closely with governments and industry to evolve the regulatory framework in ways that promote a more circular, lower-carbon economy.”

Another priority González has for his two-year GCAA term is to encourage regulation that diverts municipal and industrial waste from landfills to energy solutions – including the substitution of fossil fuels in cement kilns. González also aims to promote building codes and norms that allow for the extensive adoption of lower-carbon cement and concrete products.

Additionally, González wants to establish market-driving carbon pricing mechanisms that incentivize decarbonization and investment in carbon-reduction technologies. Another priority is to secure funding and establish alliances to develop new technologies that reduce carbon emissions in the cement manufacturing process.

Cemex says González recently spoke at the United Nations General Assembly’s Private Sector Forum, where he urged the public and private sectors to collaborate more closely to develop the regulatory framework by which the cement industry can reach its full potential as a contributor to a carbon-neutral society.