What’s the Measure of Green Steel? The WTO Is Proposing One Way to Look at It.
12/04/2023 - The World Trade Organization has put on the table a set of principles meant to standardize how greenhouse gas emissions are measured in the global steel industry.
Called the Steel Standards Principles, they call for establishing common methodologies on measuring greenhouse gas emissions within the iron and steel sector in order to accelerate the transition to near-zero emissions.
The principles were developed by standard setting bodies, international organizations, steel producers and industry associations. They were endorsed Friday at a Business and Philanthropy Climate Forum roundtable on the first day of the COP28 UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai.
"The diversity of standards for measuring steel carbon emissions makes assessing how one tonne of steel compares to another extremely challenging. The Steel Standards Principles establish the key foundations of a common framework that is needed for driving the decarbonization of the industry globally," said Annie Heaton, chief executive officer of the ArcelorMittal-led ResponsibleSteel, a multistakeholder standard and certification initiative.
