Book and Claim for Cement and Concrete

Cement and concrete account for roughly 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet many of the technologies needed to decarbonize the sector are still in early stages of deployment. Scaling these technologies will require new tools that go beyond traditional procurement models. A book and claim system offers a pathway for purchasing the emissions reductions associated with low-carbon cement and concrete products in the form of certificates (known as environmental attribute certificates), even while demand is dislocated from supply. This tool unlocks low-carbon investments while ensuring that financial flows are transparently linked to verified emissions reductions.

From October 2024 to January 2026, RMI and the Center for Green Market Activation (GMA) and RMI convened more than 30 leaders across the cement and concrete value chain to provide input on the development of a book and claim framework for selling, buying, and retiring environmental attribute certificates for low-carbon cement and concrete products. We also hosted public meetings and a public consultation period to collect additional input on the design of the system. The outcome of these engagements is the following set of guiding principles for a high-integrity and market-ready book and claim framework:

• Credible: Credible from an environmental standpoint, driving high-integrity atmospheric benefits
• Usable: Straightforward and usable to facilitate scalable market transactions for low-carbon cement and/or concrete attributes
• Compatible: Compatible with existing regulatory and non-regulatory frameworks and best practices
• Comprehensive: Comprehensive across a range of decarbonization solutions to ensure the book and claim system can support multiple viable pathways to low-carbon cement and concrete
• Unifying: Able to serve diverse geographic regions and markets, minimizing fragmentation and promoting geographic equity in access to decarbonization opportunities
• Adaptable: Designed for longevity and adaptability for future low-carbon technologies

Together, these principles set the groundwork for credible future environmental attribute certificate transactions while allowing the market to grow, innovate, and adapt as low-carbon cement and concrete solutions scale.

This framework is designed as a foundation — not a final endpoint — for a robust book and claim ecosystem. It outlines core principles, market design considerations, and operational guidance for book and claim transactions, environmental attribute certificate issuance, and digital registry tracking, providing a sector-specific foundation to build confidence, enable investment, and support the decarbonization of cement and concrete at scale.