AsiaNet 89775

NEW YORK, May 28, 2021 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

-- Citi, Goldman Sachs, ING, Societe Generale, Standard Chartered, and

UniCredit are working together to develop a climate-aligned finance agreement

to support steel sector decarbonization.

Several top lenders to the steel sector—Citi, Goldman Sachs, ING, Societe

Generale, Standard Chartered, and UniCredit—have come together to define common

standards of action for decarbonizing steel through a collective

climate-aligned finance agreement. The banks have formed the Steel

Climate-Aligned Finance Working Group, facilitated by RMI's Center for

Climate-Aligned Finance (

https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=3177362-1&h=3632502613&u=https%3A%2F%2Fclimatealignment.org%2F&a=Center+for+Climate-Aligned+Finance

) , with the goal of crafting an industry-backed agreement before the United

Nations Climate Change Conference in November 2021 (COP26). The agreement would

create a level playing field for measuring progress against steel sector

climate targets, as well as a platform for supporting the sector's

decarbonization.

Low-carbon technologies exist across many industries. However, for the steel

sector, which emits roughly 7% of global energy emissions and is heavily

coal-dependent, commercially viable alternatives are still at an early stage.

The sector's carbon intensity raises expectations of and from financial

institutions to support its decarbonization.

The Working Group, led by ING and co-led by Societe Generale, comprises senior

representatives from each bank's metals and mining teams. The Working Group

will forge the scope, emissions pathways, methodologies, and governance

structure of the collective climate-aligned finance agreement in collaboration

with existing initiatives.

The agreement will be modeled after the Poseidon Principles (

https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=3177362-1&h=2028193006&u=https%3A%2F%2Frmi.org%2Fa-year-at-sea-the-poseidon-principles-and-the-possibilities-of-sectoral-decarbonization%2F&a=Poseidon+Principles

), the first sector-specific climate-aligned finance agreement for maritime

shipping. Developed through multi-stakeholder collaboration between major

shipping lenders, industrial corporations and experts, the Principles set the

stage for a similar framework in other sectors.

This effort is part of the Mission Possible Partnership (MPP) (

https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=3177362-1&h=151814316&u=https%3A%2F%2Frmi.org%2Fmission-possible-partnership-joining-forces-to-decarbonize-heavy-industry%2F&a=Mission+Possible+Partnership

), an alliance of leading nonprofit organizations and 400+ businesses working

to accelerate industrial decarbonization across seven sectors, including steel.

Within MPP, the Working Group is part of the Net-Zero Steel Initiative (NZSI),

comprising some of the world's largest steel producers and suppliers. The RMI

Center for Climate-Aligned Finance (

https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=3177362-1&h=3632502613&u=https%3A%2F%2Fclimatealignment.org%2F&a=Center+for+Climate-Aligned+Finance

) will facilitate engagement between the Working Group and NZSI to ensure the

objectives of steelmakers and lenders are aligned.

"The formation of the steel finance working group is just the first step on the

journey to a climate-aligned steel sector," said James Mitchell, director at

the Center.

Media inquiries please contact:

Alex Chin, associate - media relations, T: +1 973-262-0002, E: achin@rmi.org

About RMI

More information on RMI can be found at www.rmi.org.

SOURCE Rocky Mountain Institute