Innovating for a Low Carbon Future

Climate change is one of the defining global challenges of our time. We have a business ambition to be net zero by 2050 and are working to ensure that our businesses and products are part of the solution.

We are accelerating existing levers to decarbonise our operations and supply chain, in line with our 2030 roadmap and we are partnering to innovate new technologies and solutions. We are also innovating and delivering the low carbon solutions needed for a decarbonised and resilient built environment, including the construction of energy efficient buildings and clean energy infrastructure.

Case Studies

Examples of how our business is moving towards our 2050 net zero carbon ambition.

Partnering to develop low carbon concrete for data centres

American Rock Products, part of our Americas Division, partnered with Amazon Web Services to develop a new, more sustainable concrete mix for use in...

Partnering to develop low carbon concrete for data centres

American Rock Products, part of our Americas Division, partnered with Amazon Web Services to develop a new, more sustainable concrete mix for use in the development of new data centres. The concrete mix will help Amazon to meet their new design standards and drive sustainable construction across the industry.

Developing innovative low carbon concrete products

We are driving progress and advancing essential technologies through our Innovation Centre for Sustainable Construction (ICSC). The ICSC team has...

Developing innovative low carbon concrete products

We are driving progress and advancing essential technologies through our Innovation Centre for Sustainable Construction (ICSC). The ICSC team has developed a low-carbon concrete solution that has a 65% lower carbon footprint compared to traditional concrete solutions. Following laboratory trials and successful pilot-scale productions it is now being rolled out across part of Europe and Canada.

Reducing carbon in the production of cement

Jura Materials, part of our Europe Division in Switzerland, is piloting a new project called ‘Swisscarb’ at their Wildegg location in partnership...

Reducing carbon in the production of cement

Jura Materials, part of our Europe Division in Switzerland, is piloting a new project called ‘Swisscarb’ at their Wildegg location in partnership with neustark and ETH Zurich. The Swisscarb project aims to incorporate CCUS and biofuels into the cement manufacturing process to reduce carbon emissions. The project may also lead to an increase in the recyclability of secondary raw materials.


Our Targets and Progress


Industry-leading carbon emissions reductions target

At CRH, we are working to ensure that our businesses, products and the assets built from them are part of the solution to climate change. We are committed to further reducing carbon from our operations and supply chain and ensuring that the vital products we provide help us to deliver on our ambition to be net-zero by 2050.

In early 2023, the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) validated our revised targets 1 in line with the updated 1.5°C science-based framework, which now equate to a 30% reduction in absolute carbon emissions by 2030 (from a 2021 base year). This target applies to our group-wide gross carbon emissions and covers our total footprint across Scope 1, 2 and 3. It is also inclusive of organic business growth.

We have also joined the ‘Business Ambition for 1.5°C’ initiative, which aims to achieve net-zero global emissions by no later than 2050 in order to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

Find out more about what we are doing on Decarbonisation :

2022 Annual Report


1. SBTi validated target wording: CRH commits to reduce gross Scope 1 and Scope 2 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions 33.5% per tonne of cementitious product by 2030 from a 2021 base year*. CRH also commits to reduce absolute gross Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions from other activities 42.0% by 2030 from a 2021 base year*. CRH further commits to reduce gross Scope 3 GHG emissions 23.5% from purchased clinker and cement per tonne purchased over the same timeframe. *The target boundary includes land-related emissions and removals from bioenergy feedstocks.