PANAJI, GOA - The production of steel and cement accounts for around 15% of global direct CO2 emissions.

Addressing policymakers and business leaders at the 14th Clean Energy Ministerial Meeting, UNIDO’s Ciyong Zou’s message was loud and clear: “Global emissions from steel and cement production will have to decrease by more than 90% by 2050 to stay aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement.”

He continued, “To achieve that, we need US$26bn annually for cement and steel alone! Today, we are still far from realizing these investments, let alone the emissions reductions. We need to work together to facilitate the low-carbon transformation of industry and overcome the challenges to unlock investment.”

The High-Level Dialogue on Industry Decarbonization was chaired by Abdelaziz bin Salman Al Saud, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy, and participants included Stefan Wenzel, State Secretary at Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Frank Des Rosiers, Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy and Innovation, at Natural Resources Canada, and Abhay Bakre, Director General of India’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency. Private sector representatives included Thomas Guillot, the CEO of the Global Cement and Concrete Association, and Annie Heaton, CEO of Responsible Steel.

Zou said the private sector can play a key role in triggering the needed investments but “they need a clear market signal, they need standards”. He continued, “Through the Clean Energy Ministerial’s Industrial Deep Decarbonization Initiative, UNIDO is working with governments and the private sector to tackle issues related to demand and standards.”

“I see a big opportunity for the global community to come together to bring a pipeline of investment projects by 2030 and I would like to invite you all to work with us through the Call to Action we are publishing today to build momentum, unlock financing and leverage private capital for industrial decarbonization in the lead-up to the climate ambition summit in September and the COP28 in December.”

Yasutoshi Nishimura, Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, delivered closing remarks.

See:

Call to Action: Unlocking financing for industrial decarbonization

Steel and cement can drive the decade of action on climate change. This is how