The Steel Climate Standard

The world needs steel. Steel is an essential engineering material for the global economy. It is a critical material used to manufacture our vehicles, build our infrastructure, construct our buildings and factories, produce our energy and much more. Steel is also driving the transition to a greener economy with the production of electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar arrays and other clean tech products.

The world needs to lower emissions. The GSCC is leading the charge to reduce carbon emissions and encourage investments in lower emission technology as part of the global effort to decarbonize economies and societies. An October 2022 report by the United Nations shows that countries are not on track to limit carbon emissions to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. Steel producers around the world are at different stages in their efforts to reduce emissions and achieve sustainable production. EAF producers are leading the way – this process emits 78% fewer carbon emissions than integrated steel manufacturers.

We already have the technology. Steelmakers have become more efficient and producing a ton of steel today requires only 40% of the energy it did in 1960. Because the United States has converted more quickly than other competitors, the U.S. steel industry is 37% less carbon intensive today than the European industry. This means that the technologies already exist to cut global emissions by over 70%. And new technologies are on the horizon that will reduce emissions even further.

We have the technology to cut emissions by over 70% today. So why aren’t we? Tweet

We need a global standard. Numerous groups and companies – including the GSCC – are advocating for a global standard to measure and report steel carbon emissions. However, some in the U.S. and European Union are advocating for a standard that features a “sliding scale” for measuring carbon emissions. This would result in a dual standard for emissions — one standard for steel made from extractive production processes and another for steel made from circular processes. This is a mistake.

Having a dual standard that rewards high-emission steelmakers, harms the environment and disincentivizes steelmakers from changing their production process. It would permit higher-emitting integrated steel producers to classify their steel products as “green” even if they are produced with significantly higher carbon emissions than those using the EAF process. The GSCC’s mission is to lead the way toward a truly effective low-emission steel standard that accurately counts carbon emissions – not production methods.

The U.S.-EU negotiations should not create a double standard and a slippery slope toward a dirtier environment. We can do better. Tweet

We must avoid greenwashing. Creating a dual standard allows high-emissions integrated processes to be labeled as “green” and prioritized at the expense of cleaner EAF processes is a form of greenwashing. This will discourage innovation and disincentivize high-carbon steelmakers from making changes in their production process. A truly effective green-steel standard must be one in which actual, attained carbon emissions are measured, and the standard must apply equally to all producers on a global basis.

99% of steel co-products can be repurposed for other use, recycled to reclaim materials within them or recycled as energy sources. Tweet

We can accomplish this. The standard must lead to everyone in the global steel industry working to reduce carbon emissions. This can be achieved by creating a science-based emissions standard based on actual emissions that would apply to all producers equally on a global basis. Without this, higher emission processes are incentivized to remain the same, delaying efficiencies and the carbon footprint. Establishing a standard should incentivize actions that will generate the largest decrease in carbon emissions, such as greening the electric grid to make EAF production even more carbon-efficient, and developing advanced reduced iron (DRI) and carbon capture, utilization and sequestration (CCUS) technologies.

More than 90% of the water used in American EAF steel mills is processed, cleaned and returned to the environment. Tweet