Concrete levy and the climate crisis

Sir, – The debate around the concrete levy rumbles on with little or no reference to the wider issue of sustainable building materials, embodied carbon and carbon emissions.

If cement, which is the main ingredient in concrete, were a country, it would be the third-largest emitter of CO2 on Earth, not far behind global agriculture.

All concrete, however, is not equal. Up to 70 per cent of cement in concrete can be replaced by GGBS (ground granulated blast-furnace slag), reducing its embodied carbon significantly. Surely the use of products with high levels of cement replacement should be incentivised.

Ultimately though, a fundamental shift is needed away from non-renewable materials such as concrete towards wide-scale use of renewable, carbon-storing materials like timber. Government intervention is needed urgently on this front and perhaps the concrete levy is one part of this change. – Is mise,