Commitments to decarbonise the global economy are gaining momentum.
China has pledged to hit peak emissions by 2030 and to reach net zero by 2060. The EU, Japan and South Korea are all aiming for net zero by 2050. The Biden administration in the USA is rejoining the Paris Agreement.
In this context, and as one of the hard to abate industrial sectors, the steel industry recognises that we need to act. Our industry is a truly global one, with steel producers operating in different circumstances all over the world, which means there will be no single solution path that will get us to where we need to be.
Instead, we at worldsteel advocate the need for a three-track parallel approach that will not only see our own emissions reduced, but will help the entire global economy make a shift to more sustainable ways of operating.
Steel makes huge contributions in reducing the emissions of other sectors everywhere around the world.
In everything from zero energy buildings to future mobility, not to mention renewable energy infrastructure, decarbonsiation is going to be a steel-intensive process. It is important that this is widely understood.
As a 100% recyclable material that loses none of its properties no matter how many times it is recycled, steel is a perfect fit for a flourishing circular economy.
We need to work with customers to make sure they understand this by, for instance, encouraging them to take into account the whole life cycle of steel products when making their design and material choices. This way they can avoid using materials that appear to be more environmentally friendly in the use phase of a given product, but which are actually worse overall when taking into account the production and end-of-life phases.
I was happy to talk to Alex Cameron, Founder of decarb connect in more detail about our three-track approach. I’ll be joining decarb connect’s Digital Festival on 27th January where I will be part of a panel discussion on how to tackle the challenges of bringing CCUS technology to the market.
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