Six Global Banks Come Together to Decarbonize Steel

Leading lenders to the global steel industry—Citi, Goldman Sachs, ING, Societe Generale, Standard Chartered, and UniCredit—are working together to develop a climate-aligned finance agreement to support steel sector decarbonization.

New York City – Several top lenders to the steel sector—Citi, Goldman Sachs, ING, Societe Generale, Standard Chartered, and UniCredit—have come together to define common standards of action for steel sector decarbonization through a collective climate-aligned finance agreement. A climate-aligned finance agreement establishes a framework for assessing and disclosing the degree to which the greenhouse gas emissions associated with a financial institution’s portfolio are in line with 1.5°C climate targets.

The banks have formed the Steel Climate-Aligned Finance Working Group (the Working Group), facilitated by RMI’s (Rocky Mountain Institute) Center for Climate-Aligned Finance, with the goal of crafting an industry-backed agreement before the United Nations Climate Change Conference in November 2021 (COP26). The agreement would create a level playing field for measuring progress against climate targets in the steel sector, as well as a platform for proactively supporting the decarbonization of the sector.

The RMI Center for Climate-Aligned Finance (the Center) will facilitate engagement between the Working Group and the Net-Zero Steel Initiative (NZSI) to ensure the objectives of steelmakers and their lenders are aligned. “The formation of the steel finance working group is just the first step on the journey to a climate-aligned steel sector,” said James Mitchell, director at the Center. “Decarbonizing high-emitting sectors is challenging, but collective action efforts such as the Poseidon Principles show how the financial sector can meet its climate goals through serving its industrial clients in hard-to-abate sectors, such as steel. Now the hard work really starts.”

For further information please refer to the full press release here.

Media Inquiries please contact:

Julie Gibson – Media Relations, Standard Chartered T: +44 20 7885 2434
Julie.Gibson@sc.com

Note to Editors

About the Center
The Center for Climate-Aligned Finance was established by RMI to help the financial sector transition the global economy toward a zero-carbon, 1.5°C future. With deep partnerships in finance, industry, government, and civil society, the Center works to develop decarbonization agreements within high-emitting sectors, build global frameworks for climate alignment, and support financial institutions in decarbonizing their lending and investing portfolios. Launched in 2020, the Center builds on RMI’s nearly 40 years of experience developing market-based solutions to accelerate the energy transition.