Mace signs up to SteelZero

Mace, the international consultancy and construction company, signed up to SteelZero, a global initiative aimed at driving market demand for net zero steel.

The initiative benefits from support from seven major steel buyers from across sectors including construction and renewable energy.

This marks the beginning of a significant global business push for clean steel, with the first companies to have signed up to SteelZero including Grosvenor and Ørsted A/S.

Run in partnership with ResponsibleSteel, the new initiative comes from international non-profit the Climate Group, which has already seen success in delivering multinational campaigns that build corporate demand for renewables (RE100), which Mace is part of, and electric vehicles (EV100).

Today RE100 members are driving enough renewable electricity demand to power a G20 country like Indonesia, and EV100 members have committed over 5 million EVs to being on roads by 2030.

In the case of SteelZero, organisations are required to make a public commitment to transition to procuring, specifying or stocking 100% net zero steel by 2050. Targeting net zero steel from the demand-side of the supply chain makes this the first initiative of its kind, with the potential for it to have significant impact on investment, policy, manufacturing and production in the sector.

Mark Reynolds, Mace’s Group CEO, said:

“Everyone working in the built environment sector today has a clear and urgent responsibility to accelerate our response to the climate emergency. The traditional manufacture of steel – one of the most widely used materials in construction – generates a huge amount of global carbon each year, and so this new commitment is a significant step forward for the industry. We’re proud to one of the first signatories to the SteelZero commitment and we look forward to working with our clients, partners and supply chain to push this agenda forward.”

Jenny Chu, Head of Energy Productivity Initiatives at international non-profit the Climate Group says: 

“The steel industry is one of the largest contributors to climate change. We need to see much greater investment and progress to cutting emissions, but steelmakers also need to know their customers will buy new, cleaner products. By harnessing the collective purchasing power and influence of major steel-using organisations, SteelZero will send a critical demand signal that can shift global markets and policies towards sustainable production and sourcing of steel.”

Alison Lucas, Executive Director of ResponsibleSteel says: 

“Corporate and public sector demand for responsible, zero emissions steel has a critical role to play in reducing global emissions, encouraging decarbonisation technologies and driving lower emissions from recycled steel and the re-use of steel-based products. SteelZero will help us to get there.”

Steel is the world’s most widely used material, with the sector selling over $2 trillion worth of products annually. But despite technologies existing for production to be decarbonised, steelmaking is currently one of the biggest emitters of CO2 globally. Total greenhouse gas emissions from the sector alone account for 7% – 9% of direct emissions from the global use of fossil fuels , and this is set to rise significantly with end-use demand for steel projected to grow by almost 40% by 2050 .

A recent report from CDP estimates that 14% of steel companies’ potential value is at risk if they’re unable to decrease their environmental impact , and investors are already raising concerns that the steel industry needs to act now to safeguard its future. As a result, steel-using organisations will need to be prepared for inevitable changes across their supply chains if they’re to remain economically competitive in the transition to a low carbon world.