The Global Steel Climate Council (GSCC) has announced that nine steel producer members certified under the Steel Climate Standard avoided more than 32.5MtCO2 emissions between 2023 and 2025, demonstrating significant, measurable progress toward decarbonising one of the world’s most emissions-intensive industries.

The reductions in emissions intensity were calculated using the Steel Climate Standard methodology and applied to actual steel production by certified companies. In 2023, the aggregate calculation included the four steel producers certified at the time; for 2024 and 2025, it included all nine certified producers.

As certification expanded and producers continued to lower their emissions intensity, the aggregate annual impact grew significantly. The four original certified companies avoided approximately 2.3MtCO2 from 2023 to 2024. Across all nine certified companies, approximately 10.8MtCO2 were avoided from 2024 to 2025.

The results demonstrate that meaningful emissions reductions do not depend on a single technology or production route. GSCC certified producers operate in different markets and under different conditions and have pursued emissions reductions through a range of strategies. These include increased scrap use, greater use of renewable energy, and improvements in production efficiency.

According to Adina Renee Adler, executive director of the GSCC, “More than 32.5Mt of avoided emissions are evidence that measurable progress is happening today. What is equally important is how our members are achieving it. They are not following a single prescribed technology pathway. They are making investments and operational decisions appropriate for their facilities while being held to the same rigorous requirements for emissions measurement, verification and long-term reductions.” 

The GSCC says steel producers globally face significantly different starting points for decarbonisation. Access to scrap and clean energy, existing production assets, infrastructure, capital availability, and regional policy environments can all affect the technologies and strategies available to individual producers.

The Steel Climate Standard recognises those differences while establishing a common expectation for emissions performance. The technology-neutral framework measures actual emissions rather than favouring a particular production route, allowing producers to pursue the solutions best suited to their operations while requiring certified companies to demonstrate progress against a science-based emissions trajectory toward net zero.