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Strengthening climate transition planning: Revising the ResponsibleSteel Production Standard
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.
thyssenkrupp Steel achieves its first ResponsibleSteel certification
thyssenkrupp Steel has achieved Core Site Certification for its Duisburg site, the company's first certification against the ResponsibleSteel International Production Standard.
Situated in Germany’s industrial heartland in the Ruhr region, the Duisburg site is at the centre of thyssenkrupp Steel’s operations. In continuous operation since 1891, its location on the Rhine enables fully integrated steel production. The site has an annual pig iron capacity of approximately 11.7 million tonnes from four blast furnaces and a crude steel capacity of around 11 million tonnes. Looking ahead, thyssenkrupp Steel aims to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 30% by 2030 compared to 2018 levels and cut Scope 3 emissions across the value chain by at least 16%.
Annie Heaton, CEO of ResponsibleSteel, commented, “The certification of thyssenkrupp Steel’s Duisburg site marks a major milestone as the largest steelmaking site in Europe to achieve ResponsibleSteel certification to date. It reflects thyssenkrupp’s commitment to rigorous, international sustainability standards and an assurance system that involves multiple stakeholders and goes beyond carbon emissions to include other environmental and social requirements. With plans underway to introduce direct reduction technology, this certification represents an important step on the site’s path towards responsible, lower-emission steel production. And at a time of growing pressure and uncertainty for the industry, thyssenkrupp’s achievement is evidence of the practical steps being taken to drive real, measurable progress.”
thyssenkrupp Steel serves a broad customer base across 48 countries, with key markets including the automotive industry, mechanical engineering, industrial machinery, special vehicle manufacturing, household appliances, packaging, energy, and construction.
Marie Jaroni, Chief Transformation Officer at thyssenKrupp Steel, states: "Achieving ResponsibleSteel certification is a significant milestone for our company. It assures our customers that we uphold the highest standards of environmental and social responsibility. This bolsters confidence in our products and processes and underscores our dedication to a sustainable future."
Duisburg employs over 16,000 workers and contractors, representatives of which were consulted as part of the site’s audit alongside several external stakeholders. Representatives from the union, embassy, local authorities, water management body, worker support network, academic, community members, and neighbours were invited to give their input to the audit.
Take a look at the certificates and public audit summaries here.
Holding steel to a higher standard: What is ResponsibleSteel?
Steel is everywhere. It’s in the buildings we live and work in, the cars we drive, the bridges we cross, and the products we use every day. It's an essential material in the modern world and critical to the renewable energy transition.
But steel also comes with a cost. It’s a major source of emissions, contributing to 10% of global energy-related emissions, and the way it’s produced can have serious impacts on local communities and ecosystems. With growing pressure to reduce emissions, improve supply chain practices, and meet evolving regulations, the steel industry faces a huge challenge.
That’s where ResponsibleSteel comes in.
We're a global not-for-profit organisation created to maximise steel’s contribution to a sustainable world. Our mission is to be a driving force in the production of socially and environmentally responsible near-zero steel, steel that buyers and investors can get behind.
ResponsibleSteel supports:
- Steelmakers to demonstrate good practice on social and environmental issues, and measurable progress on decarbonisation
- Steel buyers and investors to make informed decisions and reduce risk in their supply chains and portfolios
Together, we have the opportunity to do things differently and support the industry's transition to a responsible, low-emission future.
What we do
ResponsibleSteel is the global standards and certification initiative for the steel industry. Working collaboratively with over 160 members from across the steel supply chain and civil society, we have developed the ResponsibleSteel International Production Standard via a process that uses the ISEAL Codes of Good Practice as a reference.
The ResponsibleSteel International Production Standard contains 13 Principles covering key environmental, social and governance issues identified and agreed upon by our members for the responsible production of steel. The Production Standard evaluates the full picture—not just carbon emissions, but also labour rights, human rights, water use, biodiversity, raw material sourcing, and other key issues that affect people and the planet.
Certification against the Production Standard combines all the complexities of good social and environmental performance in one indication. Steelmaking sites must undergo rigorous, third-party audits to become certified, ensuring that a site is meeting the highest environmental and social standards.
Certification provides steelmakers with a clear framework for improvement and helps buyers, investors, and other stakeholders understand whether a site is operating responsibly.
How it works
Certification is broken down into Core Site Certification and Steel Certification, or ‘Certified Steel’.
Core Site Certification against the Production Standard is the first step sites can take on their ResponsibleSteel journey. Sites undergoing Core Site Certification are evaluated against over 300 core requirements, covering the key social and environmental aspects of steelmaking such as pollution, biodiversity, water stewardship, labour rights and local communities. Core Site Certification is a major achievement, requiring commitment at the corporate level and across all of the site’s operations.
Now, steelmaking sites can build on their Core Site Certification, pursuing certification against the Production Standard’s Progress Level requirements for decarbonisation and responsible materials sourcing. The Production Standard defines four Progress Levels for the measurement of decarbonisation and responsible materials sourcing. Steelmaking sites that achieve at least Progress Level 1 for both are able to market and label their products as ‘Certified Steel’.
Why it matters
The need for reliable, consistent, comparable data in the steel industry has never been greater. Governments are introducing stricter climate disclosure regulations. Steelmakers and buyers are under pressure to reduce emissions and meet consumer demand for more sustainable products. And investors want to know which steelmakers are producing responsibly and planning for the future.
Certified Steel helps steelmakers show progress, build trust, and stand out in a competitive market. And it gives buyers and investors the confidence that a site has not only met the strong environmental and social criteria required for Core Site Certification, but is also making measurable progress on decarbonisation and materials sourcing. Certified Steel:
- Assures that steelmakers are meeting the highest social and environmental standards
- Offers credible, comparable emissions data to simplify decision-making
- Reduces supply chain and financial risks, protecting reputation and value
Working together to shape steel’s future
The industry will not transform overnight. And the transition cannot be left to steelmakers alone. Driving progress in the industry will require clear demand signals from steel buyers and backing from investors. That’s why we are working closely with buyers and investors to forge a path to a sustainable future for steel. Together, we’re helping to build a global market that is better for people, for business, and for the planet.
If you want to learn more, get involved, or see how ResponsibleSteel could support your work, we’d love to hear from you. Let’s take steel from strength to strength.
Learn more about ResponsibleSteel standards and certification here.
Are you a steel buyer or investor? Find out how you can get involved here.
June 2025 Newsletter
The June edition of the ResponsibleSteel newsletter is here!
This month, we’re sharing key updates, including the launch of our joint European policy briefing with @LESS and the publication of our Fundamentals for GHG Emissions Accounting and Classification - a reference document for policymakers, investors, steelmakers, and civil society, among others, to measure and track decarbonisation progress.
We also spoke with our Head of Programmes, Amy Jackson, in a Q&A about her background, what drew her to ResponsibleSteel, and her plans for the role.
Plus, explore insights from our recent Just Transition Workshop and discover ways to get involved in our initiatives.
Click here to read the full newsletter.
Meet the Team: Amy Jackson, Director of Programmes at ResponsibleSteel
Earlier this year, we welcomed Amy Jackson to ResponsibleSteel as our new Director of Programmes. With a background spanning ethical trade, to agriculture and responsible investment, read on to learn more about her experience in the standards industry, what brought her to ResponsibleSteel, and what she sees as key priorities for the standards and assurance programme moving forward.
1. You’ve spent a significant amount of time working on global sustainability standards. What originally sparked your interest in this work?
My journey began as a case of being in the right place at the right time. After completing my degree in Animal Biology and Marine Conservation, I moved to London, seeking adventure, and worked in a restaurant whilst job hunting. I overheard some regulars speaking about sustainability and oceans - I introduced myself, started volunteering, and eventually, a paid opportunity opened at the Marine Stewardship Council. I stayed for 11 years!
I’ve always had a passion for sustainability, and the inclusive, science-based, solutions-focused approach of sustainability standards appealed to me. They acknowledge the importance of ensuring good actors are recognised and rewarded for their work, and to me, this seemed a very constructive way of engaging people and businesses in improving practices.
Joining MSC in its early days helped me experience all sides of the system, from standard-setting to assurance, fundraising, communications, commercial engagement, and all from within a global organisation. The diversity of the challenge, the evolving landscape in how standards are seen and used, and the commitment to credibility are what kept me involved for so long.
2. Your experience spans ethical trade, agriculture, sustainable cotton, and responsible investment. How has your work in these areas shaped your approach to sustainability at ResponsibleSteel?
I’ve been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to engage with this wide range of sectors and different groups of stakeholders. In each of these, the basis has been on a defined agreement of good practice (the most important first step!), then the organisations work to find different ways to aid, verify, and reward progress towards the good practice. So, the basics are quite similar, with different organisations employing different theories of change as to the most effective levers to pull.
The most significant benefit of learning each new area has been the important reminder that, apart from your key partners and stakeholders, no one is thinking about your area of work as much as you are, or as much as you think they are. This means it’s very important to be clear about the benefits that each stakeholder gets from engaging with your system, and to make sure you are listening.
3. At ISEAL, you played a role in developing best-practice frameworks. How will those experiences influence your work on ResponsibleSteel’s International Production Standard?
The most valuable learning from those processes was how to bring diverse stakeholders together to reach an agreement. In a multi-stakeholder environment, differing opinions on some of the specifics are inevitable, so we must instead focus on the objectives we are trying to achieve, which is usually where we can find common ground.
It is also essential to ensure each group’s voice is heard, and not just the loudest! For our standard revision, we will ensure we are clear, from the outset, about the stakeholder map and the minimum level of response needed from each group. At the same time, we need to be aware that because of the differing perspectives, it will likely be impossible to reach overall (enthusiastic)consensus in all areas. At ISEAL, finalising the Credibility Principles involved asking stakeholders to indicate for each one whether a) they were happy and wouldn’t change a thing, b) could not live with it, or c) they could live with it, but had some tweaks or improvements to suggest. This allowed us to understand where the deal breakers were and what was causing them. It also allowed us to move forward and finish the document, while still noting the potential areas to review for the next version.
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4. What excites you most about the future of sustainability in the steel industry, and what role do you see ResponsibleSteel playing in it?
It has been an exciting and sharp learning curve coming into the steel industry, and I know this will continue for some time. This might be a standards nerd thing to say, but the thing that excites me the most is the agreement on the need for harmonisation and alignment of the methodologies we’re using to assess steel sustainability.
When I was preparing for my interviews for the job, I learned that depending on the methodology used, emissions numbers could vary by as much as 30%! This makes comparing performance and tracking improvements very difficult and means so much time is wasted on completing different reporting templates, rather than focusing on times and resources on making sustainability improvements.
With the Steel Standards Principles and the efforts of ResponsibleSteel and others to ensure interoperability, I think we are in a good place. In other sectors, this need for alignment has been noted. For example, in disclosure with the TCFD and TNFD, it allows all efforts to be pointed in the same direction, resulting in greater effectiveness and less wasted time.
What also stands out is the passion of the people involved –from the ResponsibleSteel team to our members and other stakeholders. There is a personal commitment to improving how steel is produced, and this passion and leadership are essential for making a difference.
5. You’ve worked on standards development, chain of custody, and assurance. What do you think are the most essential components when it comes to forming credible and impactful sustainability initiatives?
One reason I have come back to working with voluntary sustainability standards systems is because I love how beautifully all the different pieces fit together. Agreeing on what good looks like, assessing progress, assuring that a certain level is met, building capacity - it’s a whole system designed for continuous improvement, and it's what makes sustainability standards systems unique and special actors in the landscape. There are other standards, but it’s one thing to say what to do, it’s a whole other (harder)thing to make sure everyone’s doing it (assurance), and an even greater challenge to be certain that we’re making a difference (MEL: monitoring, evaluation and learning). This continued engagement with ensuring the effective implementation of the standard once it’s released is perhaps one of our collective community’s most understated USPs.
ResponsibleSteel publishes fundamentals for GHG emissions accounting and classification to drive transparency, comparability, and decarbonisation progress
To help improve the accessibility of ResponsibleSteel’s emissions methodology and accelerate robust emissions accounting and reporting, ResponsibleSteel has today published extracts from Principle 10 of the ResponsibleSteel International Production Standard relating to Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions.
Importantly, this is not an independent standard against which steelmakers can make certification claims. Instead, ResponsibleSteel's Fundamentals for GHG Emissions Accounting and Classification is designed as a valuable resource for steelmakers, steel buyers, policymakers, investors, and civil society organisations to use as a reference to measure and track progress as the global industry transitions to lower-emission production practices.
The document aims to improve the comparability, consistency and transparency of emissions accounting and reporting across the global steel industry by outlining three of Principle 10’s fundamental components:
- ResponsibleSteel’s methodology for the calculation and disclosure of crude steel GHG emissions intensity at the site level.
- ResponsibleSteel’s classification system to assess a steelmaking site’s decarbonisation progress.
- ResponsibleSteel requirements for GHG emissions intensity declarations at product-level.
ResponsibleSteel’s “Decarbonisation Scale” approach enables all steelmaking sites, globally, to be compared on a like-for-like basis, based on transparent and fair accounting rules. By adopting this approach, the industry has the opportunity to increase the transparency and consistency of emissions data across the value chain, reducing administrative burdens and enabling more effective implementation of decarbonisation policies and mechanisms.
This new publication will be particularly valuable for stakeholders either looking to align with ResponsibleSteel’s approach or to build interoperability between GHG-specific frameworks, regulations, and procurement systems.
It is important to note that no claims relating to ResponsibleSteel certification, or its equivalency, or Decarbonisation Progress Level achievement, can be made based on this document alone. The document only represents a subset of Principle 10, which in full also addresses corporate commitments to the Paris Agreement, climate-related financial disclosures, and additional site-level emissions reductions. Nor does it include any of the other 12 Principles outlined in the Production Standard relating to the responsible production of steel.
We believe that truly responsible steel production requires steelmakers to go beyond decarbonisation and take steps to mitigate other social and environmental impacts. But amidst the growing urgency of the climate crisis, ResponsibleSteel remains committed to supporting global steel decarbonisation through practical tools developed with multi-stakeholder support. This latest publication reflects that commitment to offering robust, credible, scalable tools to accelerate emissions reductions at scale.
For any questions about the use or development of ResponsibleSteel’s Emissions Metrics, please contact standards@responsiblesteel.org.
Learn more about ResponsibleSteel’s Fundamentals for GHG Emissions Accounting and Classification here.
ResponsibleSteel and LESS aisbl urge robust, scrap-conscious approach to effective European steel decarbonisation
ResponsibleSteel and the Low Emission Steel Standard (LESS aisbl) today jointly release a new policy briefing, ‘The Steel Decarbonisation Scale’, urging European policymakers to adopt a more robust and realistic approach to steel decarbonisation—one that recognises the physical limits of scrap supply and incentivises genuine emissions reductions across all steel production routes.
The study highlights that Europe’s steel industry, as the world’s second-largest producer, is responsible for 6% of the European Union’s total emissions. With ambitious EU targets aiming for a 55% reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2050, the way steel decarbonisation is measured and incentivised is of critical importance.
A key finding of the study is that current policy discussions, including the European Steel and Metals Action Plan (ESMAP) and proposals for voluntary carbon labels for steel, risk undermining climate goals if they fail to account for the fundamental constraints on scrap availability. Despite a high global steel recycling rate of 85%, only about 32% of the world’s demand for new steel can currently be met with recycled scrap due to the long lifetime of steel products, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). While the amount of available scrap is set to increase, the IEA estimates that scrap will still only be sufficient to meet 46% of steel demand by 2050.
“Steel decarbonisation requires an appropriate base for comparing steel products in terms of their global climate impact,” said Dr. Martin Theuringer, Secretary General of LESS aisbl. “Scrap is a valuable and limited resource. Any label or standard that ignores this risks distorting markets and ultimately slowing down the transition to truly low-emission steel. Our approach ensures that both primary and scrap-based production are incentivised to decarbonise, not just to compete for a fixed pool of scrap.”
ResponsibleSteel and LESS propose the adoption of a “steel decarbonisation scale” that complements traditional carbon footprinting by explicitly accounting for the ratio of scrap and primary iron used in steelmaking. This approach, already recognised by the G7 and incorporated into international standards, would:
- Prevent fruitless competition for a limited scrap supply
- Incentivise decarbonisation across all steel production routes
- Promote technology-neutral, WTO-compliant solutions
- Support the competitiveness of European industry while advancing global climate goals
“A European label for steel is a great opportunity to incentivise steelmakers to become globally competitive on their real decarbonisation progress,” said Annie Heaton, CEO of ResponsibleSteel. “A well-designed classification system will do this by taking into account scrap content in addition to the measurement of steel‘s carbon intensity, recognising that scrap will at best provide half of the world’s steel by 2050. As a result, this ‘steel decarbonisation scale’ approach incentivises investments that drive progress in the steelmaking process itself, whether in primary or secondary iron and steel making.”
The two organisations call on the European Commission to integrate the steel decarbonisation scale into the development of voluntary labels, lead markets, and investment support mechanisms, ensuring that future measures are effective, fair, and aligned with Europe’s climate ambitions.
Download the briefing here.
Access ResponsibleSteel’s approach to GHG emissions metrics here.
May 2025 Newsletter
This month, we’re building on the momentum from our recent AGM and Members Meeting, where we reflected on the progress of the past year and explored the key priorities for 2025.
We’ve launched a new events page for upcoming initiatives. Alongside this, we are announcing new training sessions and working groups, with workshops scheduled in the coming months.
We are also calling on members to submit guest blogs for the ResponsibleSteel website to share insights, innovations, and experiences of responsible steelmaking.
Read our latest newsletter for updates, opportunities to engage, and news from across our network.
Click here to read the full newsletter.
April 2025 Newsletter
This month, we’re proud to share the second ResponsibleSteel Progress Report - a chance to reflect on the major milestones achieved in 2024, highlight key learnings, and look ahead to the work still to come.
Our upcoming AGM and Members Meeting will also explore important developments across our programmes. If you haven’t registered yet, now’s the time.
To mark Earth Day, we’ve published a new article examining our relationship with the planet and the role ResponsibleSteel plays in supporting its protection.
We highlight an important upcoming development relating to our decarbonisation requirements and guidance. You’ll also find the latest updates on audits, events, and training opportunities.
In this newsletter, you will find updates on:
- Our 2025 Progress Report
- New members
- Upcoming trainings
- Updates from the team
- And more...
Click here to read the full newsletter.
ResponsibleSteel publishes second annual Progress Report
ResponsibleSteel is fast becoming the reference tool to drive the demand, policy, and finance levers necessary for the steel industry’s transition, providing a sustainability roadmap that customers, communities, investors, and workers can all get behind.
ResponsibleSteel’s annual Progress Report provides an opportunity to measure and report on the progress of our programmes, celebrating our milestones and identifying areas for learning and improvement.
In this second ResponsibleSteel Progress Report, we track the development of new work undertaken in 2024, the growth of ResponsibleSteel's membership, and the progress of our certification programme as we look toward 2030 and beyond.
2024 was a challenging year for the industry, but despite setbacks, we continued to see real determination and progress.
In 2024, we saw a 34% increase in the number of Certified Sites, bringing the total up to 87. And we saw the first sites complete re-certifications, a true testament to the enduring value of ResponsibleSteel certification. Critically, the first Certified Steel was also launched on the market – 2.4 million tonnes produced by U. S. Steel’s Big River Steel site – marking a new era of progress.
This Progress Report examines the growth of ResponsibleSteel’s certification programme and membership in 2024, as well as featuring other highlights from the year, including:
- The launch of the International Production Standard Version 2.1
- The launch of a draft Chain of Custody Standard
- The publication of our report, Charting Progress to 1.5°C through certification
- Insights into the value of ResponsibleSteel membership and certification from our 2024 Membership Survey
Looking to the future, we continue to build on work begun in 2024 to build a market for responsibly produced, near-zero steel by engaging with and mobilising policymakers, investors, and buyers of steel.
Read the full report to find out more about our progress in 2024 and plans for 2025.
Steel Safety Day: Strengthening safety in a high-risk industry
Steel Safety Day is a reminder that safety must be a shared value across the global steel industry. Established to reduce accidents, it highlights the risks workers face daily, from heavy machinery and extreme heat to hazardous materials, and reinforces our collective responsibility to protect them.
In 2023, World Steel Association (worldsteel) members reported 61 fatalities globally, representing a global fatal frequency rate (FFR) of 0.017, the lowest on record. While this demonstrates progress, steelmaking remains a high-risk industry compared to other sectors. According to worldsteel, on average, 20% of incidents have the potential to lead to serious injuries or fatalities. Without strong safety frameworks, the risks associated with working in the steel industry can have devastating consequences for workers, families, and wider communities.
ResponsibleSteel members are making strong headway in fostering a culture of safety. At Arvedi AST, safety is a shared responsibility from leadership to the frontline. HSE Manager Fernando Camponi explains:
"In Arvedi AST, over the last few years, major efforts have been directed towards increasing the health and safety culture at every level, from management to workers, with particular reference to the key role of supervisors. As an example, we can mention the 'STAR' (Safety Training and Review) project, through which the most expert supervisors check on site the correct application of all safety operating instructions by all workers, providing, if necessary, for their revision or updating."
Meanwhile, Outokumpu has embraced technological innovation to enhance safety. Thorsten Piniek, VP of Health & Safety, comments:
"Safety of our people is our first priority. During 2024, we maintained world-class safety performance. We have implemented a structured way of doing safety behaviour observations and learning from each other across the organisation. Last year, our preventive safety actions were up 5% since 2023, so our people have done a fantastic job! In addition, our three safety robots utilising AI helped us reduce our employees' exposure to hazardous areas."
There is also a financial benefit to investing in health and safety. A 2017 study by the Institute for Work & Health in Canada found that employers investing in occupational health and safety in the manufacturing sector earned on average an estimated return of 24%.
As technology advances, so does our ability to prevent harm within the steel sector. But lasting progress relies on culture: empowering workers, building trust, and making safety the priority and default. A sustainable steel industry must first and foremost be a safe one.
At ResponsibleSteel, health and safety are core to our International Production Standard, as they are fundamental to a sustainable industry. The Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) principle embedded in our Production Standard ensures that the safety of workers is prioritised at every level of steel production. A sustainable industry must be safe for the people who power it, and without proper protections in place, there can be no true social or environmental progress.
Join us at our upcoming Annual General Meeting
We are pleased to invite ResponsibleSteel members to the 2025 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of ResponsibleSteel Ltd on Monday, 19 May 2025. The meeting will be held online via Microsoft Teams.
Time:
- AGM: 12:00 – 12:30 (GMT+1)
- Members Meeting: 12:30 – 13:30 (GMT+1)
Agenda:
- Chair’s Report
- CEO’s Update
- Financial statements and reports
- Announcement of the results of the election of Directors
Registration in advance is required to attend the AGM and Members Meeting, and members must be up-to-date with their membership fees to be able to join and participate in any votes. We encourage all members to register and participate in the call.
The AGM will be followed by a Members Meeting, during which we will explore the latest developments around ResponsibleSteel and what’s in store for the rest of the year. Members will also have the chance to ask questions and provide input on a number of topics.
If you have any questions or would like to register, please contact our membership team.
Earth Day 2025: Advancing sustainability in the steel industry
Earth Day is a moment to reflect on our relationship with the planet, and a call to protect the ecosystems and communities that sustain us. As we face accelerating climate and environmental crises, it’s clear that good intentions are not enough. Real progress requires meaningful, measurable action.
Steel is an essential part of modern life, supporting everything from clean energy systems to the infrastructure around us every day. But the way that steel is produced comes with a heavy environmental and social footprint. It’s one of the most emissions-intensive industries, and its impacts on land, water, and people are significant. At ResponsibleSteel, we believe that the future of steel must be aligned with the future of the planet. We unite businesses, civil society organisations, sustainability experts, and other industry stakeholders around a shared vision: that steel can—and must—be produced in a way that is environmentally and socially responsible. Our work is grounded in a set of shared principles that reflect the full scope of sustainability, including climate action, biodiversity protection, responsible resource use, and respect for human rights.
For example, our Biodiversity Principle aims to ensure that sites actively protect nature by respecting conservation areas, avoiding harm to high-value habitats, and following the mitigation hierarchy to reduce impacts. Sites are expected to assess biodiversity risks and aim for no net loss, and even a net gain, where critical habitats are involved. Our Water Stewardship Principle calls for a clear understanding of how water is used and shared in each location, with strong planning to protect water quality, support local communities, and safeguard stressed resources. By setting clear expectations like these across our Production Standard, we’re helping drive the changes the steel industry needs.
Earth Day is a reminder that environmental and social responsibility are inseparable. Steel may not be the first thing that comes to mind when we think about nature or climate, but it plays a central role in shaping both. The transformation of the industry is already underway, and must continue apace, driven by accountability, urgency, and collaboration. We don’t produce steel, but our work ensures that when it is made, it’s done with consideration for people and the planet. Because a thriving Earth requires responsible progress in every sector, including steel.
Learn more about how we’re supporting change here.
