The Summary of the Meeting
Accelerating the decarbonization of heavy industry is critical to tackling climate change and meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement. The steel industry accounts for about 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. There are already technologies that can help reduce carbon emissions. At the same time, the fragmentation of low-carbon standards is becoming an increasingly serious challenge. A level playing field and the right policy environment are essential to support investment in carbon-reducing technologies and enable all industry players to move together towards a low-carbon future. To this end, the WTO Forum on Promoting a Level Playing Field for Steel Decarbonization brings together WTO members, business and academic experts to share views on the key challenges and opportunities to ensure a level playing field for steel decarbonization, as well as the contribution of the global trading system. The forum was streamed live worldwide via YouTube.
Basic Content about Low Carbon Emission Steel in the Forum
In his remarks, WTO Director General Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Ivela said decarbonizing heavy industries such as steel, cement, chemicals and transportation is essential to achieving the net zero goal in the coming decades. The steel industry needs the right trade policy environment to support its decarbonisation efforts, including investment in breakthrough steelmaking technologies and ensuring the availability of key inputs, as well as improving demand and cost competitiveness for “green” steel. According to OECD data, there are 73 carbon taxes or ETS in operation worldwide as of April 2023. Inconsistent carbon pricing mechanisms, tax incentives, and financing policies in different countries could shift the competitive balance and lead to green investment flowing to countries with more favorable policy environments. The WTO needs to help decarbonize the steel industry and trade internationally through cooperation, transparency tools, convening capabilities, and more.
The Importance of Establishing the Common Standard
At present, the international standards or requirements for low carbon emission steel show a trend of fragmentation, on the one hand, different standards in the coverage of boundaries, calculation methods and parameter values are different, causing problems to the use of iron and steel enterprises; On the other hand, different steel downstream customers have different degrees of recognition for the carbon emission standards of fragmented products, which brings differences in the acceptance of standards. In order to meet the differentiated needs of customers, steel production enterprises need to apply different standards to carry out calculation and certification. These have increased the decarbonization burden of steel enterprises, so it is necessary to promote the mutual recognition and acceptance of different standards. It is necessary to take full account of differences in national and regional resources, energy endowments and levels of development, and establish a sustainable standard system that reflects common but differentiated responsibilities. The construction of low-carbon emission steel standards is the common needs of the steel demand side and supply side industrial chain, and relies on the coordinated efforts of financial investment and policies, etc., and needs to jointly promote the decarbonization of the steel industry through the supply-demand-finance-policy linkage. In addition, promoting the mutual recognition of different standards also requires intergovernmental cooperation. The carbon neutral transformation of steel producers depends on various technologies and large amounts of inputs. In the context of jointly tackling climate change, it is hoped that developed countries will further open up and share low-carbon technologies to jointly promote carbon emission reduction.
Endeavor Together to Make a Joint Force
All parties believe that under the premise of “common but differentiated responsibilities”, the decarbonization problems faced by the steel industry need more exchanges and platforms for mutual recognition of standards, and need to strengthen communication and exchange on mutual recognition of standards. The WTO, which plays a key role in promoting international cooperation between private and public stakeholders, as well as coordinating solutions to these issues and ensuring a level playing field, should use its convening power and broad reach to promote sector-wide decarbonization, reduce trade frictions and promote inclusiveness.