ABSTRACT
The high carbon intensity of the industry provides international cement producers with a strong rationale for proactive responses to climate change. Since China began its economic reform policy in 1978, Chinese cement production has increased more than sevenfold. Chinese cement production attracts attention not only because of its volume. Because of its size, as well as its need for structural reform, the Chinese cement market is a stage with great expansion potential for the transnational actors of the Sustainability Initiative. Instead, the Cement Sustainability Initiative offers an opportunity to examine the possibility of a detectable pollution halo effect, not least within the restructuring process presently under way in Chinese cement production. At central government levels, local pollution is recognised as a major industrial problem for China, and efforts are being directed at curbing it. Carbon dioxide, although a major pollutant from the industry, is simply not recognised as a problem.
