Saint-Gobain CEO argues green construction materials are cheaper in the long run

We’ll be hosting meaningful discussions on climate and sustainability—just like many are doing in New York for Climate Week. I spoke with Saint-Gobain CEO Benoit Bazin at the Opening Ceremony yesterday; he’s on a mission to make the construction sector—one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gasses—more sustainable. I asked him how he’s convincing industry leaders and consumers to use the green construction materials Saint-Gobain is producing.  

“People think that sustainable construction would be more expensive. It’s not the case,” Bazin said. “You have to think of the full life cycle of the building. So even if you have 5% or 10% extra cost at the time of the construction, what you are going to save in terms of energy efficiency and in terms of how you recycle the materials at the end will make it cost effective.”  

In honor of Climate Week, we also asked members of the Fortune CEO Initiative to weigh in on the progress their companies are making on their sustainability promises and goals. Here’s what they had to say:  

“Our ambitious emission reduction targets have been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative, which underscores our commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner, and we are actively communicating and implementing these targets across our operations.”  

-Jim Kavanaugh, cofounder and CEO, World Wide Technology

“In 2022, we launched an alliance with the Arbor Day Foundation to plant trees in forest ecosystems of need. Our firm recently surpassed planting 100,000 trees across the U.S. through this alliance, which, when measured over 40 years, will result in 68.8 metric tons of CO2 sequestered, 8.8 million gallons of water runoff avoided, and 300 tons of air pollutants removed.”  

-Penny Pennington, managing partner, Edward Jones

“Weatherford has made significant strides, not just in growth but also in our commitment to becoming net-zero by 2050 and advancing our ESG initiatives. We’re dedicated to setting higher goals each year and working closely with our stakeholders to keep driving positive change.”  

-Girish Saligram, president and CEO, Weatherford

“Instead of creating short goals, we set benchmarks every 10 years as we gradually upgrade our facilities. However, reaching the ultimate goal is still far behind, as an international corporation has to fulfill compliance and regulation in multiple countries. Without synchronization, it is impossible to holistically achieve full transformation.”  

-Kevin Xu, CEO, MEBO International

“We are on track to meet our 2030 aspirations of reducing our business travel emissions and direct emissions by 50%. We will continue to collaborate with our key stakeholders to meet the moment and are committed to our sustainability efforts.”  

-Paul Griggs, U.S. Senior Partner, PwC

“We aim to innovate solutions for sustainable development while continuing to shape our business responsibly and successfully. One example is that 87% of global packaging is designed for recycling or reusability, reaffirming our commitment to a circular economy. Additionally, 89% of Henkel’s global electricity is sourced from renewable sources, as of the end of 2023.”  

–Pernille Lind Olsenpresident, North America, Henkel

“We generate 97% less e-waste, cut carbon emissions by up to 85%, and help data centers reduce energy use by 20%. Our current focus is to reduce Scope 3-use of sold product emissions per effective petabyte, by 66% by 2030. As of this year, we’ve already reduced those emissions by 52%.”  

-Charles Giancarlo, CEO, Pure Storage

More news below. 

Kristin Stoller
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