Global Finance Leader HSBC Calls for Carbon-Neutral Steel
Steel is currently the largest source of industrial carbon emissions
HSBC, a global leader in banking and finance, has issued a new report calling for a “transition to responsible, zero carbon steel making.” This new report echoes Mighty Earth’s earlier reports – Cold Steel, Hot Climate and Construction Destruction – which focused on advances the steel and construction industries must undertake to solve the climate crisis and the potential for customers to create the demand for a new, more responsible steel industry. Mighty Earth Campaign Director Margaret Hansbrough, author of the two reports, released the following statement in response to HSBC’s new publication:
“This groundbreaking report from HSBC is the first time that a global financial leader has demonstrated a sophisticated enough understanding of the severity of the climate crisis in the context of the steel industry, which accounts for about 7-9 percent of emissions, and the urgent need to rapidly shift toward a carbon-neutral steel industry.
“For the last year, Mighty Earth has been sounding the alarm on steel and other heavy industrial carbon emissions and calling on the construction industry to drive demand for carbon-neutral steel. The conversation is changing, and HSBC’s instructive and incisive report has elevated this critical issue to a pivotal point. But we can’t wait another year for corporate commitments and major capital shifts – it will be too late.
“Every banker, investment manager, financial regulator, and ratings agency in the world should be shaken up by this report. They should immediately ask the steel companies they do business with some tough questions. How will companies begin decarbonizing their assets? Will they invest in the necessary R&D to achieve the low-carbon transition milestones necessary to ensure a 1.5 degree warming scenario? What are their climate risks, and how fast are companies and the industry as a whole working to mitigate their climate impacts to manage those risks?
“The HSBC report makes two critical points. First, it underscores how critical steel will be to the growth of the clean energy and net-zero supply chains. Second, it demonstrates that there are lots of solutions and viable pathways for low and zero emissions steel right now. These are two of the many reasons Mighty Earth has been working with HSBC through ResponsibleSteel over the last year. We both know that by driving demand for responsible, zero-carbon steel and demonstrating the value for steel companies to participate, we can turn the tide on the climate crisis.
“This signal from global finance also means it’s past time for ArcelorMittal, Thyssunkrupp, Tata Steel and other big global steel players to start walking the walk when it comes to their own portfolios, supply chains, and policy agendas. If bankers are asking them for this, then it’s time for these companies to lead on policy solutions too. They need to engage in a robust, vocal, and constructive way in Europe and elsewhere right now to help set the most aggressive industrial decarbonization policy possible to benefit people and the planet.”
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Photo Credit: Gyver Chang via Flickr (Modified)
