A Year of Transformation: Reflections From Our CEO

In a year defined by developments that pose serious threats to global stability, both geopolitically and for our climate, many are wondering what we have achieved towards a sustainable future in 2024.

It is tempting to despair as progress on decarbonisation appears stalled, economic conditions render projects less feasible and our political leaders appear distracted. And yet I see many signs that we are building unstoppable momentum towards a transformed industry that can withstand these challenges.

There are change-makers amongst us that are showing resolve, energy and creativity to build the road to a sustainable future. These are the collaborators, the innovators, and the systems thinkers providing the impetus for the long-term transition.

Many, I am proud to say, are members and partners of ResponsibleSteel, who see the powerful potential of our global standards and certification system to help drive us toward a more responsible, fair, and just future. They have sought to work with us, to demonstrate their commitment through certification, and to collaborate to build coherent new systems fit for a better world.

Celebrating certification achievements

‍Let’s start with our members’ certification achievements. Six months after we published our first-ever Progress Report to track the impact our collective endeavour has delivered, we now have:

• Over 160 members headquartered across 36 countries,
• Over 85 sites with Core Site Certification, covering 7% of steel produced annually, both via blast furnaces (42) and electric arc furnaces (17),
• More than 236,000 workers covered by our independent audits that include extensive stakeholder interviews.
• The first site certifications in Vietnam, Canada, Slovenia, Italy, Finland and Sweden as well as new certifications in Germany, France and India.

A significant milestone

‍Most significantly, at Climate Week NYC we announced the world’s first ResponsibleSteel Certified Steel, achieved by U. S. Steel’s Big River Steel site in Arkansas, sending a clear message to the market: progress towards responsible ‘green steel’ is being made, and stakeholders now have a transparent, consistent and credible global system to benchmark it by.

More Certified Steel will follow, and customers that procure it will enjoy a credibility that stands out from the confusing myriad of ‘green steel’ claims. To fortify this, we consulted on our draft Chain of Custody Standard earlier this year that will forge a path to certified physical traceability and allow buyers of Certified Steel to make credible claims for the first time.

Tracking progress towards global climate goals

‍Tracking the progress of the global steel industry in a consistent way is vital, and our report 'Charting progress to 1.5°C through certification' demonstrated the power of the ResponsibleSteel system to benchmark this progress.

Over 25 respected experts agreed to peer review the report, which concluded that by 2030, 15% of the world’s steel needs to demonstrate real decarbonisation progress (achieving ResponsibleSteel Progress Levels 2 or 3) and 8% needs to reach near zero emissions (Progress Level 4).

More than that, every steelmaking site in the world needs to perform better than the current global average emissions intensity. In other words, today’s average steelmaker will become the industry’s worst by 2030 if they don’t start improving their operations.

Regulators, customers and investors have an important role to play here in setting the expectations of the industry and incentivising the transition. We encourage them all to reference our global benchmarks in charting their path to 1.5°C.

And yet the risk is that more frameworks for steel emerge which do not deliver comparable assessments of progress. It’s critical that we work collaboratively to create an international system of standards that are interoperable, ensuring coherence, credibility and positive impact across the board.

Building interoperability

‍I have been delighted this year to develop collaborations with a number of initiatives that seek to reflect ResponsibleSteel’s system of embodied GHG measurement and Decarbonisation Progress Levels within their own frameworks, either through alignment, recognition or conversion.

These are all aspects of the interoperability we need to ensure that global trade in low-emissions steel can flourish. ResponsibleSteel has been a leading voice on how to progress this with the 60+ signatories of the Steel Standards Principles and in conversation with the IEA and the Climate Club. I look forward to sharing more news with you in 2025 on how and where we are putting this into practice.

Alongside this, we are also working at the national level. In the US, ResponsibleSteel’s Progress Level 4 was identified as a benchmark for measuring and defining near-zero steel in the Modern Steel Act. In Germany, we recently welcomed the German Steel Association (WV Stahl) into membership and we continue to build relationships with associations and policymakers in India and China. As regulators at national level develop policy and definitions to incentivise decarbonisation, ResponsibleSteel can support both steelmakers and policymakers to convert their national assessments into a globally coherent and credible system. This year, interoperability became a favourite topic. Next year, we need to turn it into reality.

Looking ahead to 2025 with optimism

‍All this is evidence of the international ecosystem we are building to effectively support the production and trade of low-emission and near-zero steel. That’s why, amidst the growing scepticism and disappointment permeating climate discussions, I have nothing but hope for the year ahead.

I am fuelled by the enthusiasm of our members and stakeholders and their commitment to working across industry, policy, and finance to drive production of and demand for near-zero steel. I want to thank you for your continued thoughtfulness and support.

While 2024 has brought stark reminders of the climate crisis, it has also demonstrated the power of intelligent collaboration. Now is the time to identify common ground and collaborate to turn our commitments and plans into tangible outcomes. Real-world order books, financial arrangements, and large-scale technology implementation. On behalf of the ResponsibleSteel team, I want to wish you and your families much health and happiness, and a peaceful end to the year. We look forward to working with each of you as we take the next steps toward achieving our shared goals in 2025.

Best wishes,

Annie Heaton
CEO, ResponsibleSteel

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