Since 1995, we have been a member of the Mexican chapter of ABAC. This organization meets three to four times a year to determine the positions of and elicit suggestions from the private sector for the leaders of the 21 economies that form APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Council). The ultimate goal of APEC is a free trade and investment zone; it also works to strengthen cooperation among its members on different subjects.

Both organizations address issues such as the creation of a future Asia Pacific free trade agreement (FTAAP), SME development, climate change and energy security, corporate social responsibility, the facilitation of financial services and investment flows, and the APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC), among others.

We signed a ten-year agreement with BirdLife International, the largest network of independent conservation organizations in the world.

BirdLife works with local communities to promote the sustainable  use of natural  resources as a means  of conserving birds - as an important indicator of the health of an ecosystem - and other wildlife. BirdLife is a leading expert on bird numbers and biodiversity trends across the world.

We will work with them to implement conservation measures at our quarries around the world. We will also support wider initiatives to conserve and raise awareness of wild birds and biodiversity.

We are members of Boston College's Center for Corporate Citizenship since 2002. In this forum, we share best practices and learn from other global companies such as IBM, Verizon, PepsiCo, Cargill, and GE. We were invited to chair the Center's International Advisory Board for 2007-2008.

We collaborate with Conservation International to support global biodiversity conservation efforts and raise awareness. We have worked with them to publish several of our conservation books. In 2008, we published, A Climate for Life: Meeting the Global Challenge. In addition, CI participates on the advisory board of our El Carmen conservation initiative.

In 2000 we established an alliance with the Iberian-American New Journalism Foundation, headquartered in Colombia and chaired by Nobel prize laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez, to promote excellence in journalism. As a result, the CEMEX+FNPI New Journalism Award was instituted.

We are members of the GLN since 2005, which supported by Boston College and Accountability, provides a network with other global companies committed to achieving world-class performance in corporate citizenship.

GLN has created an internal planning and assessment framework that helps a company align its social, environmental, and economic performance with its core business strategy to ensure performance excellence in corporate citizenship.

We work in partnership with the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP) for the production of books that inspire and raise awareness for the conservation of nature.

The Conservation Book Program began in 1993; the books have been published in partnership with recognized NGOs involved in the conservation of biodiversity, including Conservation International, BirdLife International, The Wildlife Conservation Society, World Conservation Union (IUCN), and other leading conservation organizations.

Through this editorial partnership, CEMEX and the ILCP focus on highlighting important conservation issues by using the most cutting edge conservation science and the best conservation photography.

We participate in the global plenary meetings of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

In this group's sessions, work was done on social responsibility as part of the consultations leading up to the development of the guidance standard ISO 26000 to be launched in 2010.

Since May 2006, we have led the Mexican private sector group as an industry expert.

We participate in the highest levels of policy debate surrounding climate change through our participation in this group, which brings together business leaders from a cross-sectoral grouping of major European and international companies who see an urgent need to develop new and longer-term policies to address climate change. The group was brought together by the Prince of Wales and is managed by the University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership.

We are a vigorous supporter of this renowned university, as CEMEX's Chairman and CEO is also Chairman of the Board of the Tecnológico de Monterrey since 1998.

Founded in 1943 by a group of visionary Mexican entrepreneurs, Tec de Monterrey's multi-dimensional system has grown to include 33 campuses across Mexico, a Virtual University that reaches 23 countries, and several specialized research and knowledge-transfer centers, including its recently launched Institute for Sustainable Social Development.

Tec de Monterrey is also associated with Tec Milenio - a university that provides top-quality higher education programs to part-time students - and runs 15 corporate universities for leading Mexican companies and state governments.

Since 2003, CEMEX has strongly supported Tec de Monterrey's Graduate School of Public Administration and Public Policy, known as EGAP-CEMEX. This School has established collaborative agreements with prestigious institutions like Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Its new state-of-the-art building in Monterrey was recently inaugurated by the President of Mexico, Felipe Calderon.

We are a member of this initiative, which promotes sustainable building practices worldwide.

We became a signatory of the Global Compact in 2004. This is a voluntary initiative that promotes good corporate practices in human and labor rights, the environment and anti-corruption. We are committed to its ten principles which are fully integrated into our Code of Ethics, our policies, and our sustainability approach.

View the index that relates our sustainability performance to the Global Compact's ten
principles.

In 1999, as a member of the WBCSD, we were one of 10 leading cement companies to found the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI), a project that explores ways for our industry to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.

The goal is for the industry to reduce its ecological footprint, understand its social contribution potential, and increase stakeholder engagement. Today the CSI is a global effort of 18 cement producers, which have integrated sustainable development into their business strategies.

We are a member of the WBCSD's Energy Efficiency in Buildings (EEB) project, which seeks new ways to make buildings' life cycles more sustainable; and we co-chair the Urban Infrastructure Initiative (UII), a WBCSD project that promotes “a world where cities provide a sustainable environment to live, work and play.”

Sustainable construction >>

We are members of the WEC since 1995. The Center is an independent, global, non-profit, non-advocacy organization that advances sustainable development through the business practices of member companies and in partnership with governments, multi-lateral organizations, non-governmental organizations, universities, and other stakeholders.