2005 Sustainability Report - Lafarge

As we head into the 21st century, our society is becoming fully aware of its
new social and environmental responsibilities. Lafarge is already recognized
by its peers and by the large global organizations as being one of the most
dynamic and advanced players in the sphere of sustainable development, an area in
which our humanist values support our growth around the world. I have asked our
employees not only to maintain our lead, but to accelerate the pace.
In early 2006, when presenting my strategic plan to steer Lafarge toward a sustained
leadership position, I said that I was determined to make innovation one of the main
driving forces of our strategy – because innovation is a source of added value for our
customers, and enables us to respond to the broader concerns of today’s society in
terms of both respecting the environment and mankind.
We have high ambitions: we want to truly commit ourselves to sustainable construction.
This is a new challenge, one that requires developing new products and solutions to
reduce the ecological footprint of buildings and improve living standards. To achieve
these goals, we can rely on the results we have obtained as well as leading edge solutions
we have developed, both in our research center and through innovative partnerships
with other players in our sector. This is illustrated, for example, by our collaboration
with architect Jacques Ferrier to create an ultra-ecological tower building concept –
Hypergreen – designed to meet the needs of the world’s megacities, as well as by the
chair for teaching and research on material sciences for sustainable construction
that we have created in concert with the prestigious engineering schools École des Ponts
and École Polytechnique, and in association with the world’s greatest universities.
Message
from
the CEO
BRUNO LAFONT
LAFARGE | 2005 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT | PAGE 01