Charting Progress to 1.5°C through Certification

The 2015 Paris Agreement committed signatories to maintaining global average temperatures well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C.

Steel’s status as a fundamental material for the global economy and the significant emissions it produces (10% of global CO₂e emissions in 2023) means that getting its decarbonisation journey right is crucial.

The majority of the world’s governments and steel corporations have committed to reducing the sector’s emissions to net zero within the next 26 years.

But how will the steel sector get there?

For the first time, we have drawn a clear connection between what’s required to deliver a 1.5°C-aligned pathway for the global steel sector and ResponsibleSteel’s Decarbonisation Progress Levels.

This new report, 'Charting Progress to 1.5°C through Certification' demonstrates how ResponsibleSteel certification can drive the change needed for the steel industry to achieve the Paris Agreement.

The results provide a framework for steelmakers and steel users to navigate time-bound certification requirements using the ResponsibleSteel Progress Levels, and for policy makers and financial institutions to incentivise the investments we need to see for the industrial transformation.