Ada Recinos, Deputy Press Secretary, ada.recinos@sierraclub.org (Pacific Time)
During Climate Week, North American members of the Sustainable Steel Buyers Platform launched a bidding process asking steelmakers to deliver 1 million metric tons per year of near-zero emissions steel by 2028. Sierra Club applauds this initiative and the companies that are proving that there is a market demand for clean manufacturing.
The Sustainable Steel Buyers Platform was built to address the failure of the free market to match steel users who want to buy climate-friendly, sustainable goods steel made without coal-based feedstock with steelmakers who now have the technology to produce steel without polluting our communities. With seven large companies committed to purchasing near-zero emission steel, the Platform is asking the steel industry - especially domestic primary iron and steel producers like Cleveland Cliffs and US Steel Company - to offer bids for a purchasing agreement.
“There are no silver bullets in the road to eliminating the climate and toxic pollution from the steel industry – but commitments by end users to purchase iron and steel made without fossil fuels in the supply chain is a strong starting place,” said Yong Kwon, Senior Campaign Advisor for Sierra Club Industrial Transformation. “We are encouraged by the Sustainable Steel Buyers Platform and urge bids from steelmakers that are receiving public funding for new green technologies. Simultaneously, we are disappointed that no company in the auto industry – the largest consumer of steel in the world and the United States – has joined the platform. We ask the auto companies to join this initiative at this vital hour.”
These signals, alongside those from government purchases, are vital assurances to the steel industry that it should invest in retrofitting old facilities with technologies that do not require coal or other fossil fuel-based feedstocks. Sierra Club also acknowledges that many more companies have made commitments to purchase more sustainably-produced steel through parallel initiatives such as the First Mover’s Coalition and SteelZero. RMI estimates that U.S. annual demand for near-zero emissions steel should reach 6.7 million tons by 2030 to meet these commitments. We urge these companies to establish purchasing agreements with steelmakers to make these promises to the world and future generations real.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.