Industrial decarbonization is critical to the achievement of net-zero emissions. In order to reduce emissions from sectors traditionally viewed as harder-to-abate such as steel, the embedded carbon of such goods must first be calculated. Many standards for evaluating products’ carbon intensity exist or are being developed around the world at various levels of governance. The United States’ Buy Clean procurement plan, the Clean Energy Ministerial Industrial Deep Decarbonization Initiative (CEM IDDI) and the ResponsibleSteel Standard are national, supra-national, multilateral and private sector initiatives doing just this.

This report by adelphi as part of the Transatlantic Climate Bridge and E3G analyzes these initiatives and sheds light on the opportunities for harmonization across them and where there is room for greater collaboration.

Date: 06 July 2022