The Role of Sectoral Approaches and Agreements

The document examines the steel sector's role in global emissions, focusing on abatement opportunities in China and India. It identifies four currently available abatement categories—closing inefficient plants, improving efficiency in existing plants, using best available technology (BAT) for new builds, and increasing scrap recycling—and notes that deep cuts will require carbon capture and storage (CCS) or breakthrough technologies after 2020. The report argues that carbon pricing alone is insufficient to overcome barriers like high capital costs and lack of policy, suggesting that Sectoral Approaches and Agreements should combine price and non-price incentives. Initial modelling suggests that with a carbon price of $25/tCO2, China could abate up to 150 MtCO2/year and India up to 40 MtCO2/year, potentially generating $2bn and $0.5bn in annual credits respectively.

• The steel sector accounts for 5% of global emissions from fossil fuel combustion, with emissions projected to grow by at least 50% between 2005 and 2030, even if abatement options are used.
• Four categories of CO2 abatement are currently available: closing inefficient and highly polluting plants, improving energy and carbon efficiency at existing non-obsolete plants, ensuring new plants use best available technology (BAT), and increasing the use of recycled scrap.
• Deep emission cuts in the steel sector are unlikely before 2020 and will require demand reduction, carbon capture and storage (CCS), or other breakthrough technologies.
• Carbon pricing alone, such as current EU ETS prices, is unlikely to drive significant reductions because it cannot overcome non-price barriers like the scarcity of investment capital and lack of supporting policy.
• In China, the total abatement potential relative to a stock turnover baseline is estimated at 150 MtCO2 per year; at a carbon price of $25/tCO2, this could generate approximately $2bn per year from credit sales after 10 years.
• In India, the total abatement potential relative to a stock turnover baseline is approximately 40 MtCO2 per year from 10 years forward, with potential financial flows of $0.5bn per year at a carbon price of $25/tCO2.
• The report recommends using the World Steel Association’s plant level data protocol for monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) because it is already used by most large plants worldwide.

APA

Wooders, P., Cook, G., Zakkour, P., Harfoot, M., & Stiebert, S. (2009). The Role of Sectoral Approaches and Agreements. Climate Strategies. https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/cs-sa-steel-exec-sum-dec09.pdf

Chicago

Wooders, Peter, Greg Cook, Paul Zakkour, Mike Harfoot, and Seton Stiebert. The Role of Sectoral Approaches and Agreements. Climate Strategies, 2009. https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/cs-sa-steel-exec-sum-dec09.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Wooders |first1=Peter |last2=Cook |first2=Greg |last3=Zakkour |first3=Paul |last4=Harfoot |first4=Mike |last5=Stiebert |first5=Seton |title=The Role of Sectoral Approaches and Agreements |publisher=Climate Strategies |date=9 December 2009 |url=https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/cs-sa-steel-exec-sum-dec09.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wooders2009role, author = {Wooders, Peter and Cook, Greg and Zakkour, Paul and Harfoot, Mike and Stiebert, Seton}, title = {{The Role of Sectoral Approaches and Agreements}}, institution = {Climate Strategies}, year = {2009}, month = dec, url = {https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/cs-sa-steel-exec-sum-dec09.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }