Bamburi Cement Kenya, has secured an eco-friendly cement range certification for its four brands after achieving a 30 per cent lower carbon dioxide (CO2) due to its commitment in accelerating its operation towards attaining net zero carbon emissions.
Bamburi Cement received the certification as part of their green criteria agenda of being a leader in providing green building solutions and also their plan of switching to solar by 2025 to lower its scope 2 emissions and has also launched its 2021 sustainability report.
Speaking during the launching of the certification, at the Nairobi Grinding Plant, Bamburi Cement Managing Director Seddiq Hassani, identified the accreditation as a milestone for the company in establishing its efforts towards the global climate change obligations of net zero emissions.
“At Bamburi, we will continue to pioneer carbon footprint reporting and transparency within our sector because we are cognizant that choosing and promoting Ecolabel products makes a real contribution to the biggest environmental challenges of our time, such as reaching climate neutrality by 2050, shifting to a circular economy and reaching the zero-population ambition for toxic-free environment,” said Hassani.
He noted that Bamburi will lower energy emission by 2025 accounting for up to 40 per cent of its power consumption and that Bamburi also plans to increase its use of rail transportation to 25 per cent to lower its transportation cost.
During the event, Bamburi Cement also launched its 2021 Sustainability Performance Report, whose theme was “Committed to a Sustainable Future” that covers the company’s fiscal year from January to December 2021, the company’s financial and non-financial performances overview and activities towards Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) impacts.
The report fine points the progress made so far by Bamburi’s five core sustainability pillars, which include Climate and Energy, Circular Economy, People and Human Rights, Nature as well as Sustainable Procurement.
Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Geoffrey Odundo, who was the Chief Guest at the launch, congratulated Bamburi cement for being one of the few listed companies to release a dedicated sustainability report and also exhilarated the listed companies to embrace development of measurable sustainability initiatives and green products that are environmentally friendly.
“We are happy that Bamburi Cement is leading the way in matters of Sustainability reporting as a listed company and at NSE, we are working with International Finance Corporation (IFC) to develop a tool that will be used to measure reports for listed companies,” said Dr. Odundo.
He added that during the reporting period, Bamburi Cement achieved a reduction in its industrial emissions target through accelerated efforts in reducing the use of fossil fuels and replacing them with alternative fuels like biomass and industrial wastes.
Bamburi Cement People Organization and Sustainability Director, Irene Wamanga explained that as part of enhancing sustainable procurement Bamburi’s spending on Women-Owned Businesses increased to 10.8 per cent in 2021 from 7.9 per cent in 2021 and Youth-Owned Businesses from 2.3 per cent in 2020 to 7.9 per cent in 2021 and that 21,000 people have benefited from the Sh26 million that was cumulatively contributed to promote positive social impacts initiatives.
By Edna Okoth
