SAINT_GOBAIN_REGISTRATION_DOCUMENT_2017

One ambition: to improve the well-being of all The Group and its environment

The challenge of population growth and urban 1.2 development In 2017, the global population passed 7.5 billion (1) and it is doubled by 2050 (3) . The rural exodus today is concentrated expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050 (2) . This demographic in Asia and Africa, resulting in growing demand for housing growth is accompanied by rapid urbanization. In 2014, there and infrastructure, particularly in currently mid-sized cities were 17 countries where more than 90% of the population that are destined to become megacities (4) . was living in towns and cities, a figure that will have almost

2

DEMOGRAPHIC GROWTH AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

9.5 Bn

8.5 Bn

7.3 Bn

65%

60%

4.5 Bn

WORLD POPULATION

54%

2.5 Bn

1.7 Bn

40%

RATE OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT

30%

20%

1910 1950 1980 2015 2030 2050

In developing countries faced with the persistence of slums, stimulating new demand in conjunction with increased access to housing is a major social and economic challenge purchasing power of the people and with increasingly high that calls for appropriate solutions. At the same time, the comfort requirements. emergence of a vast middle class, including in Africa, is The challenge of climate change 1.3

Twenty-five years after the first report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the extent of the problem of global warming has now been fully assessed; the Stern (5) report, which provides a benchmark, showed that the cost of doing nothing outweighs the cost of a coordinated plan to reduce climate change. After more than twenty years of negotiations and as a matter of urgency, governments have therefore decided to commit to quantified targets for greenhouse gas reduction. The Paris

Agreement, which came into force on November 4, 2015, sets the stringent goal of keeping the increase in temperature to below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. To achieve this goal, there is an immediate need to reduce emissions growth by one-third between 2010 and 2030, compared with the previous two decades (6) . Beyond the signatory countries, the positive engagement by many players (towns, cities and businesses) brings hope of growing global awareness and compliance with the objectives set by the Paris Agreement.

World Population Prospects 2017 Revision – United Nations. (1) World Population Prospects 2017 Revision – United Nations. (2) World Urbanization Prospects 2014 Revision – United Nations. (3) World Urbanization Prospects 2014 Revision – United Nations. (4) Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, 2006. (5) Synthesis report on the aggregate effect of the intended nationally determined contributions, UNFCC, October 2015. (6)

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