We’re shaping a more ResponsibleSteel industry.

On 26 May 2026, ResponsibleSteel and the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) co-hosted a technical workshop in Shanghai, bringing together steelmakers, downstream users, verification bodies and policy stakeholders to advance the development of an interoperability mechanism between decarbonisation approaches in ResponsibleSteel International Production Standard’ and CISA's C2F Steel Standard.

The workshop is the latest step in a collaboration that began with our landmark COP30 agreements and our visit to China in January to kick off the interoperability project. China accounts for the majority of global steel production, making alignment between the ResponsibleSteel standard and C2F on decarbonisation one of the most significant pieces of work underway in the global move toward low-emission steel.

The day covered several key topics, including: 

• what credible interoperability claims could look like in practice; 
• findings from the comparative analysis of the two standards, focusing on emissions accounting (Criteria 10.4 and 10.6) and disclosure requirements (Criterion 10.7); 
• deep dives into emissions accounting and metrics, and into disclosure, transparency and assurance; 
• and next steps toward a pilot programme.

Participants emphasised the importance of practical solutions that work across different markets and operating contexts. The discussions also engaged openly with the challenges of aligning site-based and product-based approaches to emissions measurement — questions that will require continued technical work to resolve, and that the workshop made useful progress in understanding.

The discussions reinforced that interoperability creates a pathway toward more comparable, trusted emissions claims across borders; different classification systems can co-exist, and carefully designed co-calculation and assurance tools will support data flow between suppliers and customers.

The outcomes of the workshop will inform final proposals for operationalising the interoperability programme, including pilot audit design and governance framework. 

‍Learn more about the ResponsibleSteel International Production Standard

Preparations are underway for ResponsibleSteel’s involvement in London Climate Action Week, including a Member Reception to mark the 10-year anniversary of ResponsibleSteel, and a Finance Working Group focused on unlocking transition finance - see below for more details.

In this newsletter we also share updates from across the system, including GHG assurance workshops, progress on the Standard Revision, and CEO Annie Heaton’s recent speech at an offshore wind production event in China.

Finally, we spotlight upcoming audits, assurance discussions and new guidance shaping responsible sourcing across the value chain.

Read the full May newsletter here.

Highlights

Member Reception at London Climate Action Week

We are delighted to confirm that the ResponsibleSteel Member Reception will take place during London Climate Action Week, bringing our community together in person to celebrate a major milestone - 10 years of ResponsibleSteel.

The reception will be held on Monday 22 June, supported by BCG and taking place at their office. It will provide an opportunity for members to reconnect with peers from across the network, celebrate our collective progress and look ahead to the next chapter for responsible steel production and sourcing.

Finance Working Group

We are also pleased to highlight that the next edition in our Finance Working Group series is set to take place in London on the same day - Monday 22 June - as the Member Reception, and is also kindly supported by BCG. This closed-door roundtable will bring together senior representatives from financial institutions, steelmakers and other partners to continue strategic discussions on how to mobilise and de-risk transition finance for the steel sector.

LESS Publishes Statement on ESPR Delegated Act

The Low Emission Steel Standard (LESS) initiative has published a new public statement in response to the ESPR Delegated Act, outlining the initiative’s position and key considerations for the steel sector.

The statement has also been shared with media contacts and via LinkedIn to encourage broader industry engagement and discussion. Members and stakeholders are encouraged to read and share the statement across their networks to help raise awareness of the issues addressed.

WMBC Campaign: Seizing the Electric Advantage

The We Mean Business Coalition’s “Seizing the Electric Advantage” campaign is inviting companies to support a new global business statement ahead of London Climate Action Week.

The campaign highlights how electrification powered by clean, locally generated electricity can provide a practical and commercially available pathway to stronger competitiveness, lower energy costs over time, improved resilience and long-term economic growth.

Other updates included:

• Information on recent GHG Assurance and Claims Workshops
• ResponsibleSteel's CEO Annie Heaton speaking at Dajin Offshore's event in China
• Updates on the Standard's revision process
• Details on the upcoming Calibration Workshop for auditors
• Upcoming audits

Last year marked a decade since the signing of the Paris Agreement and six years since the launch of the ResponsibleSteel Production Standard. In that time, expectations on climate action have shifted dramatically. Global emissions continue to rise, and the 1.5°C warming threshold is now projected to be breached by 2034. To remain on a 1.5°C pathway, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicates that global CO₂ emissions must fall by 45% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. Yet progress in the steel sector is lagging. According to the Mission Possible Partnership’s Global Project Tracker, only 9% of the required operational or committed near-zero steelmaking capacity was in place by the end of 2024.

Against a backdrop of rising global emissions and growing awareness of the consequences of inaction, ResponsibleSteel is undertaking a timely and necessary revision of its climate-related requirements, specifically criteria 10.1 (corporate commitment to the Paris Agreement), 10.2 (corporate climate-related financial disclosure), 10.5 (site-level emissions targets and planning), and 10.7.1 (GHG disclosure and reporting).

A collaborative revision process

From October to January, ResponsibleSteel convened five Working Group (WG) and Technical Advisory Group (TAG) meetings, bringing together 23 representatives from 15 member organisations across certification bodies, civil society, steelmakers, and the wider steel value chain.

As a participant from SteelWatch noted during the process, “Having a diverse group of members involved in the revision process of the standard helps to achieve a balance between what steelmakers deem feasible and where the standard needs to set the bar to trigger ambitious action. ResponsibleSteel has done well navigating and drawing on different perspectives, turning them into concrete proposals that can be submitted for the next steps of the revision process.”

Three guiding principles framed these discussions:

• Ambition: ensuring alignment with global climate goals and science-based pathways
• Feasibility: recognising real-world constraints, particularly in the near term
• Simplicity: avoiding unnecessary complexity while improving clarity and accountability

A key theme that emerged was the foundational importance of credible transition plans that move beyond aspiration and, at the same time, are grounded in realistic assumptions about technology readiness, capital investment cycles, and enabling conditions. As noted by SteelWatch, “Aligning corporate- and site-level requirements is essential in ensuring that top-level corporate ambition and targets translate into actual investment decisions today, and subsequent material transformation and emissions reductions on the ground.”

Moving beyond outdated decarbonisation roadmaps

Under the current Production Standard, certified sites must demonstrate that they have a decarbonisation roadmap aligned with an existing model. However, the WG and TAG agreed that many of these models have not been updated in recent years and no longer reflect technological, economic, or policy realities. As a result, they risk undermining rather than strengthening transition planning. The revised approach moves away from a prescriptive reliance on external models and instead proposes to introduce an explicit requirement for a climate transition plan at the corporate and site level.

A participant from EMSTEEL, a ResponsibleSteel member and certified site, commented, “Revising the ResponsibleSteel Standard is an important step in strengthening the steel sector’s collective transition journey. The process provides members with a valuable opportunity to contribute practical insights, share operational experience, and help shape a standard that is both ambitious and implementable. ResponsibleSteel has done an excellent job in creating an inclusive and transparent revision process, encouraging constructive dialogue among members and ensuring diverse industry perspectives are reflected in the development of a stronger and more credible framework.”

What’s proposed to change in the Production Standard?

The proposed revisions strengthen and connect key elements of Principle 10, with a clearer and more coherent architecture across corporate and site levels.

Key improvements include:

• Quantitative, time-bound emissions reduction targets, covering Scope 1 and 2 emissions and material Scope 3 emissions
• Stronger links between corporate- and site-level planning, ensuring that corporate ambition translates into real investment decisions and on-the-ground transformation
• Improved intensity-based disclosures to support comparability, directly aligned with ResponsibleSteel’s broader harmonisation work
• Alignment with leading frameworks, such as IFRS S2 (International Financial Reporting Standards), while retaining flexibility for different regional and operating contexts
• Clearer guardrails for credibility, moving beyond temperature labels alone

There was strong agreement across the WG that clearer wording and guidance are essential to support consistent interpretation and implementation by sites and auditors alike.

Connecting the dots between the Production Standard’s criteria

One of the most important outcomes of the revision process so far has been a clearer set of connections between criteria that, while related, have not previously been well integrated.

In the current Production Standard:

• Corporate transition planning (10.1) is weakly connected to climate-related financial disclosures (10.2)
• Site-level transition planning (10.5) is not sufficiently aligned with corporate-level strategies
• Public GHG emissions disclosure requirements (10.7.1) are limited, focusing mainly on a site’s medium-term reduction target

The proposed changes aim to address these gaps by:

• Requiring climate transition plans to include climate-related financial risks and opportunities, including dependencies that may impose structural barriers, planned changes to business models and strategy;
• Aligning corporate- and site-level planning approaches to reduce carbon leakage risks and ensure consistency across operating boundaries; and
• Strengthening public disclosure requirements to better support accountability, comparability, and progress tracking over time.

Flexibility, credibility, and the reality of steelmaking

The WG and TAG discussions also surfaced a shared understanding of the structural barriers currently slowing decarbonisation in the steel industry. These include:

• Limited technology maturity at scale
• Supply chain and infrastructure constraints
• Energy availability and cost
• Inconsistent or insufficient policy support
• Weak demand signals for low-emission steel
• Trade and competitiveness pressures

Given the long investment timelines and asset lifetimes involved, feasibility in the near term is particularly critical. As such, there was strong support for a flexible, disclosure-driven approach that pairs quantitative targets with qualitative indicators of progress, allowing ResponsibleSteel to uphold high ambition and transparency while recognising that steelmakers cannot address systemic barriers alone.

As ResponsibleSteel’s Decarbonisation Analyst, Melav Salih observed, “A robust climate transition plan must embed decarbonisation within broader strategic and financial planning. It needs to recognise that steelmakers’ transition pathways are shaped by long-lived assets, billion-dollar investment decisions, and dependencies on an ecosystem of change that includes energy systems, infrastructure, policy, and markets.”

Looking ahead

As the Paris Agreement enters its second decade, and as legal, financial, and societal expectations on climate accountability intensify, ResponsibleSteel’s role as a credible, independent standard for the steel industry has never been more important.

By strengthening climate transition planning across corporate strategy, site-level action, financial disclosure, and public reporting, revisions to the Production Standard aim to support steelmakers in navigating this transition transparently and at pace.

Together with parallel work on harmonisation and disclosure alignment, the revisions to climate transition planning requirements represent a critical step toward turning climate commitments into credible, comparable, and feasible transition pathways for the global steel industry.

Learn more about the revision of ResponsibleSteel’s International Production Standard here.