The political economy of decarbonising steel and other heavy industries

Steel has a contradictory relationship to the climate crisis: it is both a key contributor to global warming, accounting for 7-9% of global carbon emissions, and a crucial material for decarbonisation, with steel serving as a crucial component of wind turbines, solar panels, and electric vehicles. Most attention has been paid to the technical difficulties of greening this ‘hard to abate’ industry, such as the challenges of fitting steel mills with carbon capture technology or replacing basic oxygen and blast furnaces with hydrogen-based direct reduced iron and electric arc furnaces. In contrast, this seminar focusses on the under-explored Political Economy of steel decarbonisation, particularly the question of how to muster an estimated $8-11 billion in extra annual investment in an industry wracked by ruinous competition, overproduction, low capacity utilisation, stagnant investment, and narrow profit margins.

Jack Copley is Assistant Professor in International Political Economy in SGIA, Durham University. He writes on the political economy of industrial decarbonisation, financial deregulation, and money.