Ahead of the G7 summit in Germany on 7-8 June, European steel association Eurofer has set out conditions that it says must be met to ensure “… global sustainability and effective climate protection”. The association has produced a joint declaration with European trade union IndustriAll to highlight the provisions that it feels must be implemented to create what it calls “… the right policy framework”.

In a statement sent to Kallanish, Eurofer says that any international agreement on climate change must invoke six key tenets. Firstly, a robust and comprehensive international agreement on global climate protection must be achieved at the Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris in December 2015. Secondly, emissions trading must be designed in such a way that in the long term a competitive steel production in Europe remains possible.

The energy transition must be affordable and must ensure industrial competitiveness. A special compensation scheme [… for the steel sector] must be provided for the costs incurred by the development of renewable energy production, the statement says. Fourthly, sustainable permanent materials such as steel must be considered in the post-2015 development agenda. Steel is endlessly recyclable and therefore is a permanent material, Eurofer maintains.

The penultimate condition is to secure an international level playing field for steel by establishing fair trade conditions. The trade link to global decarbonisation is at best tenuous, Kallanish observes.  Eurofer implies however that uncontrolled production should not be rewarded by allowing unfettered global trading of material produced in an unsustainable way. Or, more succinctly, China should cease state subsidies and stop dumping steel.

Finally, there is the question of “… social dimension and just transition”. A highly qualified workforce is a prerequisite for a competitive and sustainable steel industry. Economic and employment policies must be oriented to the creation and maintenance of high-quality, sustainable jobs, the association says.