Page 70 - 2023 Sustainability Report

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP

project which is not scheduled to be complete and operational before the end of 2024 and does not appear to be
designed to capture all of that plant’s Scope 1 GHG footprint. We are monitoring this project and the associated amine
technology very closely. In the United States, our research indicates that no carbon capture project has proceeded beyond
the feasibility stage.

Despite the fact that this technology remains in its early stages for cement production, we now believe that enough
resources, both intellectual and financial, have been directed at the issue, that a viable technological solution will be
developed. For example, in the United States Inflation Reduction Act passed in 2022, substantial federal funding was been
made available to jump-start R&D and commercialization of technology, such as carbon capture. This will be beneficial for all
industries, but most particularly the cement sector. In the past, federal funding of CCS R&D and pilot projects was not
available in the United States. EU cement companies like Heidelberg have already benefited from government funding for
CCS projects. For example, its Brevik, Norway CC project is funded mostly by Norway and the EU under Norway’s Longship
Project designed to demonstrate the feasibility of carbon capture and sequestration. We expect that the additional infusion
of funding by the US government will hasten the development of carbon capture technology and when the right technology
emerges, with only one remaining cement plant as of February 2024 and our strong balance sheet, we will be in a position
to implement this technology quickly.

Relevant to all of these considerations is recently published rulemaking by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission with
respect to climate disclosures, including GHG emissions reporting and third-party assurance requirements that will make
careful and accurate measurement and disclosure of emissions even more important. We are carefully evaluating these
developments and taking a measured and prudent approach with respect to adding disclosures around concepts that may
be subject to new and specific requirements in the near term.

68 2023 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT