Near-zero emission steel is the preferred choice in global markets, with efficient use and production established and growing in every region by 2030 – Steel Breakthrough Goal

1. Governments, industry and other relevant stakeholders should work through existing collaborative forums and with international standards bodies to identify by the end of 2024 and implement by the end of 2025 priority revisions for interoperability and net zero compatibility of steel GHG emissions accounting methodologies. Governments should collectively provide clarity on principles for near-zero and low-emission steel definitions, commit to adopting definitions within national policies by the end of 2025, select methods for determining equivalency of different certification schemes, and provide guidelines on chain of custody models.
2. Governments and companies should increase purchase commitments to cover a significant share of their future steel demand, joining relevant initiatives aggregating these commitments and ensuring high quality through appropriate legal and implementation frameworks, such as advance purchase commitments. Firm commitments for near-zero emission steel in particular, not only low-emission steel, should be increased. Governments should also look into adopting other mechanisms to support lead market scale-up, such as low- and near-zero emission material mandates or performance standards, and including the possibility of cross-border demand creation mechanisms.
3. Governments and companies should collaborate via existing initiatives to fast-track policy support, sharing of technology learning, business case development, and practical technology collaboration partnerships, towards rapid commercialisation of a portfolio of technologies that can achieve near-zero emissions. These partnerships should support the delivery of pilot and, most importantly, commercial-scale demonstration projects in all major emerging and developing countries well in advance of 2030. Increased open conversations are needed on the role of intellectual property rights in accelerating knowledge-sharing and technology collaboration.
4. Governments should deepen and expand strategic international dialogues on the role of trade in the steel sector’s transition, with the purpose of agreeing ways to ensure near-zero emission steel can compete in international markets, including conversations both on carbon leakage and on enablers of near-zero emission iron and steel trade. Governments of all major steel producing and consuming countries should actively engage in international dialogue and explore possibilities for collaboration in this area.
5. Governments should increase support for, and engagement with, improved match making functions focused on steel deep decarbonisation that can better respond to developing country requests for financial and technical assistance. This should include donor countries, recipient countries, international financial institutions, national development banks, philanthropic organisations, private financial institutions and companies, with regular meeting of ministers. Governments should share best practices to enhance enabling policy frameworks, as well as collectively set guardrails for finance in collaboration with financial institutions, so that new capacity additions and major retrofits of existing capacity are suitable for future conversion to near-zero emission technologies and do not become stranded assets.