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New CIEP Report: The Climate for Steel
February 25, 2009. The CIEP report 'The Climate for Steel – Actions for, and conditions to, a Copenhagen climate agreement from the perspective of the EU steel sector' discusses the relationship between the Copenhagen climate negotiations and the competitive position of one important energy-intensive industrial sector: the steel industry. It is concluded that a global sectoral agreement between steel industries worldwide would offer the best guarantees for the competitive position of the EU steel sector.
A sectoral agreement within the context of the Copenhagen climate negotiations would be the best solution for a competitive level playing field in the global steel sector. If such a sectoral agreement will not be concluded in Copenhagen, and if the steel industry can prove its competitive disadvantage as a result of unilateral EU climate measures, then the European Commission should consider additional protective measures to prevent distortion of competition in the steel sector.
These are the main conclusions of the report 'The Climate for Steel', commissioned by the steel company Corus and written by the Clingendael International Energy Programme and the environmental consultancy CE Delft. Corus Netherlands asked the Clingendael International Energy Programme and CE Delft to investigate how ambitious climate targets and a level playing field for competition can go hand in hand in the global steel sector. A global sectoral agreement that builds on the existing voluntary initiatives of the steel sector and simultaneously fits with ideas of countries proposed in the Copenhagen climate negotiations, is the best scenario for the sector in an international climate agreement. Crucial is the participation of the key steel producing countries and regions. If a sectoral agreement will not be part of an international climate agreement, it will become fare more difficult to set conditions for a level playing field for competition in the agreement. In that case clear statements about long- and short term targets, technology transfer, sectoral initiatives and measurability, reportability and verifyability of actions are some of the key preconditions to an agreement.
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See also the Corus website [in Dutch]