Not one to be left behind, the cement industry too has launched a similar image building campaign. The Cement Sustainability Initiative (csi) started by the world's 10 largest cement manufacturers has now released a report on their industry's efforts in the field of sustainable development.

The agenda of the csi, which functions in tandem with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (wbcsd) includes a three-year programme on six priority issues: climate protection, fuels and raw materials, employee health and safety, emission reduction, local impacts and internal business processes.

However, the industry acknowledges that it will not be easy to implement the recommendations of this report. They point out that the barriers include a lack of trust among stakeholders, who will make investments in sustainable development projects only if they are linked to profit.