ResponsibleSteel™ welcomes new members at Members meeting in London
ResponsibleSteel members attended a Members meeting on June 17-18, held at The Last Drop at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London.
In his welcome speech at the Meet the Members reception, Alan Knight, Corporate Responsibility General Manager at ArcelorMittal, and Co-chair of ResponsibleSteel, reminded the audience of the goal of making steelmakers who make their steel to higher social and environmental standards, more competitive.
In total, 13 new members and associates have joined ResponsibleSteel since Forum I was held in Berlin. Aperam, BMW, VAMA, voestalpine, Mighty Earth, and The Climate Group have all joined as full members.
In addition, the following organisations have joined as Associates: Australian Steel Institute, European General Galvanisers Association, International Zinc Association, Miniera Responsable Consultores, Russian Academy of Sciences – Institute of Geography, Track Record Global, and University of Waterloo, Canada.
Claudia Korntner, Head of Corporate Responsibility at voestalpine, a new member since April, said: “Responsibility should be the new normal. voestalpine is looking forward to working on the ResponsibleSteel standard and bringing responsibility to the supply chain.”
Mariane André-Taillé, Group Sustainability and Compliance Officer at Aperam, a new member since May, said: “Aperam is happy to join forces and move towards sustainability for the sector.”
Glenn Hurowitz, CEO, Mighty Earth, which joined as a civil society member in June, commented: “Mighty Earth is excited to join this unprecedented and urgent effort to reduce climate pollution from the world’s leading source of the industrial emissions: steel. NGOs and industry must work together to cut industrial carbon emissions in half by 2030, and our hope is that ResponsibleSteel will be the vehicle for the steel industry to do its part to solve the climate crisis.”
Making the most of being at the iconic ArcelorMittal Orbit, during the reception many took the opportunity to descend the world’s longest tunnel slide down the UK’s tallest sculpture.
Over the two day meeting, members discussed ResponsibleSteel’s governance, standards and assurance programme in detail, including the feedback from the public consultation on the ResponsibleSteel Standard V4-0, in advance of its finalisation and the formal ratification process over the following months. Major topics included the challenges and opportunities in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, and the responsible sourcing of raw materials.
Members, Associates and other stakeholders were also formally invited to attend Forum II in Wollongong, Australia, on 1-3 December. More information about Forum II will be shared soon.