In 1999, ten of the world’s largest cement companies, including Votorantim Cimentos, came together to form the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI), a group created to promote the sustainable development of the cement industry. The CSI was developed in partnership with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), an organization that promotes sustainability in business in 30 countries. Of all the industrial sectors affiliated with the WBCSD, the cement industry was the first to adopt of its own accord, a series of initiatives to reduce CO2 emissions through joint and individual activities. Three years after its creation, the group launched the Agenda for Action, which outlined the industry’s targets and commitments to compensate for and mitigate its impact on the environment.

The action plan established a 20-year timeframe for the fulfilment of the objectives established in 2002, with 5-yearly progress reports on the agreed initiatives. Though, some activities, such as the monitoring and reduction of CO2 emissions, will be reported annually. One of the commitments assumed by CSI member companies was to report their results in 2006.

One of CSI’s core proposals is to disseminate the best practices of each of its signatories. Besides the 10 founders, 15 new members entered the movement in recent years. Collectively, these companies represent about 30% of the world’s cement production and range in size from multinational corporations to small local producers.