22 December 2022 Thursday
Steel Decarbonatization Standards Event from WTO
On 21 December, the WTO Secretariat published a new memo, announcing how it can facilitate setting standards and avoiding trade frictions to decarbonize the steel industry. The note also underlines the importance of meeting the needs of developing countries regarding decarbonization standards. The WTO's statement was released ahead of the global stakeholder event on steel decarbonization standards to be held on March 9, 2023.
The Secretariat's information note reports that more than 20 different standards are being developed to support decarbonization efforts. More work is needed on specific measurement methodologies to minimize the way these standards create uncertainty for manufacturers, increase transaction costs, and risk trade frictions. It is also emphasized that it is crucial to take into account the perspectives and challenges of developing countries.
At the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) held last month in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called for greater international cooperation on trade-related climate policies, including decarbonization standards and she said achieving global net-zero targets will require consistent and comparable greenhouse gas emissions measurement. However, it was stated that there may also be situations that will create obstacles in front of trade and investment in some standards. In this context, it was announced that a stakeholder event would be held in order to discuss the problems in detail.
Global stakeholder event
The WTO Secretariat on 9 March 2023 will hold an event titled “Decarbonization Standards for Trade: Promoting coherence and transparency in the steel sector.” The event's focus on the steel sector signals the importance of steel as the essential input in modern life and as one of the most energy- and emission-intensive industries globally, accounting for approximately 8% of annual CO2 emissions. In this context, it is important for trade to organize an event that analyzes this sector on a global basis. Steel industry leaders, academicians, international organization officials, and stakeholders from civil society will be among the speakers of the event. The event will be held at the WTO in Geneva, Switzerland and livestreamed.
