Open Forum 2026 - worldsteel.org

worldsteel’s Open Forum took place on 2 – 3 June 2026 in Brussels, Belgium.

The Open Forum is a biennial conference that addresses topics of interest to the steel industry ecosystem by engaging stakeholders beyond steelmakers, including equipment manufacturers, suppliers, policymakers, environmental NGOs, financial institutions, and academia.

The future of steel lies in collaboration and knowledge sharing, and our event provides a vital platform for networking and idea exchange.

This year, we take stock of the transition to date and discuss critical enablers. Specific topics include physical climate risk, regional decarbonisation strategies, carbon costing, chain of custody, and much more.

To meet ambitious climate goals, it is imperative that we understand the challenges and work constructively on the enablers that allow steelmakers to move further and faster.

Event presentations and panel participants

Please note that several participants did not have PowerPoint presentations, but were active participants in the panel session discussions. Those with PowerPoints are highlighted in blue.

For more details on the speakers, please see the programme on the right side of this page.

Day 1 – Tuesday, 2 June 2026:

1. Opening session: opening credits – the transition stocktake

Edwin BASSON, Director General, World Steel Association (speech only) Uğur DALBELER, CEO, Çolakoğlu Metalurji A.Ş. (speech only) Åsa EKDAHL, Director, Communications and Climate Advocacy, World Steel Association: Scene setting presentation (pdf | 3.09 MB)

Session 1: when risk takes centre stage – physical risk and insurance

This session is followed by a panel discussion moderated by Andrew PURVIS, Director, Sustainable Manufacturing, World Steel Association.

Maryam GOLNARAGHI, Director, Climate Change and Environment, The Geneva Association (pdf | 1.67 MB) Ben KINDER, Chief Underwriting Officer, Tokio Marine HCC (pdf | 4.01 MB) Rizwan JANJUA Head, Technology, World Steel Association (pdf | 848.78 KB) Jeewoo LIM, Executive Vice President and Deputy Head of Pohang Works, POSCO (pdf | 6.85 MB)

Session 2: multiple plotlines – regional strategies

This session is a panel discussion on regional decarbonisation strategies and initiatives in China, Europe, Japan, South America, and the USA, moderated by John LICHTENSTEIN, Managing Partner, World Steel Dynamics.

Rizwan JANJUA, Head, Technology, World Steel Association (pdf | 1.60 MB) John LICHTENSTEIN, Managing Partner, World Steel Dynamics (pdf | 798.24 KB) Jean Theo GHENDA, Director Technologies, The European Steel Association (EUROFER) - (no presentation: panel participant) Hitoshi DOHNOMAE, General Manager, Environmental Planning Division, Nippon Steel Corporation - (no presentation: panel participant) Kevin DEMPSEY, President and CEO, American Iron and Steel Institute (no presentation: panel participant)) José FONROUGE, Sustainability, Senior Director, Ternium (no presentation: panel participant) Dao HUANG, Deputy Chief Engineer, China Iron and Steel Association (no presentation: panel participant)

Session 3: the ticket price of transition – the cost of carbon

This session is followed by a panel discussion moderated by Åsa EKDAHL, Director, Communications and Climate Advocacy, World Steel Association

02 Jun 2026 - © Bernal Revert

Alice TIPPING, Director, Trade and Sustainable Development, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) (pdf | 816.29 KB) Claire CURRY, Global Head of Technology, Industry & Innovation, BloombergNEF

Day 2 – Wednesday, 3 June 2026:

Session 4: the script that counts – methodologies and definitions we can stick to

This session is followed by a panel discussion moderated by Felipe MACIEL, Manager, Environment and Climate Change, World Steel Association.

Most panellists do not have presentations.

Felipe MACIEL, Manager, Environment and Climate Change, World Steel Association (pdf | 705.91 KB) Dan HAYES, Low Emission Standards Lead, Mission Possible Partnership (pdf | 1.60 MB) Annie HEATON, CEO, ResponsibleSteel (no presentation: panel participant) Adina Renee ADLER, Executive Director, Global Steel Climate Council (GSCC) (no presentation: panel participant) Yanet REMPENING, Senior Associate, GHG Protocol (no presentation: panel participant) Nick COLEMAN, Climate and Sustainability Fellow, Tata Steel Europe (no presentation: panel participant) Tahmid MIZAN, SVP, Technical, Carbon Measures (no presentation: panel participant)

Session 5: proof on screen – chain of custody

This session is followed by a panel discussion moderated by Clare BROADBENT, Head, Sustainability, World Steel Association

Most panellists do not have presentations.

Ms Clare BROADBENT Head, Sustainability World Steel Association (pdf | 3.22 MB) Claude LOREA, Special Adviser, Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) Arianna BALDO, Interim Executive Director, RSB Christian KRÜGER, Head of Standardization, BASF Amanda REJSTRÖM, Global Lead, Steel Decarbonisation Workstream, WWF

Session 6: problems on set – the bottlenecks blocking scale (and the fixes)

This session is followed by a panel discussion moderated by Bekir Baris ÇIFTÇI, Director, Industry Analysis, World Steel Association.

Ms KAJOL Project Lead, Agora Industry (pdf | 640.18 KB) Paul BUTTERWORTH, Research Manager, Economics & Sustainability CRU Group (pdf | 655.35 KB) Michele RIMINI Lead, Industry Transition and raw materials , OECD (pdf | 710.78 KB) Wendel GOMES DA SILVA, Executive Director, Gerdau S.A. (pdf | 988.65 KB)