Climate Action external initiatives

Agora Energiewende

A European energy and climate policy think tank. 15 insights on the Global Steel Transformation and its accompanying launch webinar argue that a net-zero iron and steel sector by the early 2040s is technically feasible.

First Movers Coalition (FMC)

Launched in November 2021 at COP26 in Glasgow, the FMC is a collection of companies using their purchasing power to stimulate demand for clean technologies across eight hard to abate sectors, including steel. At least 10% of member companies’ steel (by volume) must meet FMC’s definition of near-zero emissions.

• The Near-Zero Steel 2030 Challenge connects companies interested in purchasing near-zero steel with steel producers that have the capability or interest in producing it. The challenge also connects steel producers to technology companies specialising in enabling technologies like hydrogen, renewable energy, and carbon capture to accelerate collaboration across the value chain. The ultimate aim of the challenge is for interested companies to be producing or purchasing net-zero steel by 2030, and to be recognised by the FMC for doing so.

Global Energy Monitor (GEM)

GEM collects and disseminates data to accelerate the worldwide movement for clean energy.

• The Global Steel Plant Tracker plots every steel plant with a capacity of 500,000 tonnes per year of crude iron or steel, including information on production route and operational status.
• The Global Blast Furnace Tracker does the same, highlighting the locations of the world’s blast furnaces.

• It releases an annual report, Pedal to the Medal, which argues for the halting or new investments or reinvestments in coal-based steel production, and which tracks where any new such investments are taking place.

Global Steel Climate Council (GSCC)

The GSCC argues that a single global standard for measuring carbon emissions is required, one that does not differentiate between steel production routes as the sector as a whole has one goal: compliance with the Paris Agreement. Differentiation allows non-EAF producers to claim that their products are ‘green’ or low-emissions even though their products have a significantly higher carbon footprint than those made by EAF producers. As such, The Steel Climate Standard is described as technology-agnostic.

International Energy Agency (IEA)

The IEA brings together around 30 national governments to provide analysis, data, and policy recommendations with respect to global energy challenges.

• The Iron and Steel Technology Roadmap explores the technologies and strategies necessary for the steel sector to comply with the Paris Agreement’s goal of a limiting global warming to well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.
• Achieving Net Zero Heavy Industry Sectors in G7 Members was prepared at the request of the German government ahead of their presidency of the G7 in 2022 to inform policy makers. It proposes definitions for near zero emission steel (and cement) and a suite of policy recommendations to sustain the transition.
• The Breakthrough Agenda Report 2023, produced in collaboration with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions, is the second in a series of annual reports that track the progress on reducing emissions in a number of high emissions and hard-to-abate sectors, including steel.

Mission Possible Partnership

A community of leaders from carbon-intensive industries along with their suppliers, customers, and financiers working to accelerate decarbonisation in seven sectors, including steel. The partnership aims to have brought zero-carbon solutions to market, have started to deploy them at scale, and have begun retiring high-carbon assets by the end of the decade. Making Net Zero Steel Possible outlines a strategy that details the action required to get the sector to net-zero.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

The OECD advises its member governments on policies that support resilient, inclusive, and sustainable growth. The Steel Committee provides a forum for its member governments to address the challenges facing the steel industry.

• The Heterogeneity of Steel Decarbonisation Pathways, prepared for the Japanese Presidency of the G7, outlines major differences in steel production routes and argues that these differences should be taken into account in developing definitions of near zero and low-emissions steel.
• Assessing Steel Decarbonisation Progress, published in November 2022, highlights the challenges creating what it describes as the gap between the steel sector’s level of ambition and its implementation in the decarbonisation transition.
• Framework for Industry’s Net-Zero Transition outlines a methodological guide in five steps to help governments deal with financing needs and other market barriers restricting low-carbon transitions in their manufacturing industries.

ResponsibleSteel

ResponsibleSteel is a certification initiative for steel producers. Producers must show that they have met certain criteria as outlined in the standard’s thirteen principles, which include corporate governance, safety and health, and climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. The latest standard, version 2.0, was released in September 2022.

Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi)

SBTi provides external verification that an organisation’s stated greenhouse gas emissions reduction plan is in line with the aims of the Paris Agreement. Following input from The Net-Zero Steel Pathway Methodology Project, SBTi’s guidance resources for the steel sector differentiate pathways based on scrap input.

SteelWatch

SteelWatch describes itself as an international civil society organisation whose mission is to turbo-charge the transformation to a decarbonised steel sector.

SteelZero

An initiative of the Climate Group, organisations that join SteelZero make a commitment to buy and use low-emission steel by 2030 and net-zero steel by 2050, according to ResponsibleSteel’s definition of those terms.

Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI)

A multi-stakeholder organisation working to improve the shipping sector’s sustainability credentials. Green steel and shipping examines how changes to steel production, use and recycling can embed circularity and stimulate the decarbonisation of both industries.

Sustainable STEEL Principles (SSP)

Under the leadership of the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), six lenders to the steel industry have agreed on a methodology for banks to measure and report the emissions associated with their loan portfolios compared to net-zero emissions pathways.