Welcome to 2026! This year, we will be entering the year of the fire horse, which is said to be a time for big change and big emotion. May this year bring us all lots of energy, motivation, endurance and luck to safely and successfully brave those and come out with some rewards for ourselves and the wider (embodied carbon) world at the end of it.
The MECLA secretariat has already been working hard in the background to get ready for this fiery ride. We have now completed our transition to pay to play and are gearing up for the working groups to continue their work. And there are, of course, many exciting events coming. This newsletter will give you an update on all of these. Let's dive in!
MECLA Transition to Phase 4
As has been communicated widely, MECLA made the difficult decision to shift to a pay to play model for its Phase 4 last year. There was a changeover period until the end of last year for member organisations to become a financial supporter for this phase.
At the beginning of this year, access to the MECLA Teams environment was cut for everyone and we are now onboarding working group participants from financial supporters back into the system. If you are part of a MECLA Phase 4 member organisation, you will have received an email in the past week about working group participation. Invitations to working group and other MECLA meetings will be send out next week.
If you haven't received any emails about your MECLA working group but feel that you should have, please reach out to us.
We thought this might be a good opportunity to re-introduce ourselves - just in case you don't know us yet or can't put a name to a face. There are four of us
Feel free to reach out to us directly or through the link above. If you are interested in hearing more about how to join MECLA, you can also sign up to one of our onboarding meetings.
Our project manager Alexi Barnstone is on a sabbatical right now, but he will be back with MECLA in the future. Although he is away travelling the world, he will still drop in occasionally to support us with events and presentations.
Tuesday, 24 February 2026 - 2.00-3.30pm AEDT - online
In December 2025, MECLA's working group on Concrete & Cement completed an updated version of their Guide to Low Carbon Concrete. The update includes an integration with the Low Carbon Materials Hub and a breakdown of different concrete classifications by state/territory.
The document gives guidance on what specifiers can expect when it comes to emissions from concrete at different compressive design strengths (MPa), and what type of questions they can ask to maximise sustainability outcomes when procuring. The document also aligns with the Australian Adoption of the GCCA - Global Cement and Concrete Association's Global Ratings for Low Carbon and Near Zero Concrete guide that was launched late last year.
Speakers for this event include:
Evan Smith, National Sustainability Manager - Sustainable Construction at Holcim & Chair of the MECLA WG Concrete & Cement
Michael Kilgariff, CEO, Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia (CCAA)
Matthew Kerley, National Technical Manager at Cement Australia (representing CCAA)
Andrew Durant, Supply Chain Sustainability Strategy Lead, Laing O'Rourke
Resilient Cities and Communities: Why addressing embodied carbon matter. A MECLA discussion with case studies
Monday, 9 March, 3.30-5pm AEDT, UTS Balcony Room
Cities largely shape outcomes through procurement, planning and capital works. MECLA’s CAW2026 event will support this year’s theme of “building cities and communities able to thrive under climate pressure” by tackling one of the most critical but often overlooked challenges — the embodied carbon in the materials that shape our built environment. By convening the full construction value chain in a pre‑competitive ‘do‑tank’, MECLA turns low‑carbon ambition into practical, scalable delivery. This helps cities reduce long‑term climate and transition risk, align procurement with net‑zero pathways, and build the confidence and capability needed to deliver climate‑ready buildings and infrastructure at scale. Our speakers bring industry and government expertise to the discussion.
Cities cannot “thrive under climate pressure” if the materials used to build them:
lock in high emissions for decades and potentially causes high levels of future construction waste,
expose projects to future carbon costs, regulation, and supply disruption,
or slow down the transition because low‑carbon options are perceived as risky or unavailable.
MECLA’s work is explicitly positioned around embodied carbon as a systems risk — particularly as operational emissions fall and materials become the dominant share of lifecycle emissions in buildings and infrastructure.
accelerating uptake of lower‑emissions steel, concrete, aluminium and other materials,
supporting circular and materials‑efficiency approaches,
and aligning construction supply chains with net‑zero and 2035 sectoral pathways.
This directly strengthens the resilience of urban infrastructure to future policy, price and physical climate shocks enabling climate‑ready procurement and delivery
Addressing embodied carbon makes it easier for councils, state agencies and public developers to embed climate resilience into projects without slowing delivery.
Thriving under climate pressure requires capability, not just intent which builds the human and institutional capacity cities need to respond effectively to climate constraints.
Join us for this in-person event that is part of Climate Action Week 2026 in Sydney!
You can find out more about MECLA by going to our website, by signing up to our newsletter or following us on LinkedIn to stay updated on future events and developments.
As always, email us with any questions and enquiries at info@mecla.org.au.
MECLA is funded through a mixture of industry and government commitments. We would like to thank all industry, research and government organisations that have already made a contribution to support MECLA going national.
MECLA c/o Climate-KIC Australia, University of Technology Sydney, Building 10, Level 10, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
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