Steel production, a challenging sector for climate change mitigation, shows significant process efficiency improvements (-67%) over the past century (1900-2015). However, this was offset by a massive increase in annual production (44-fold), resulting in a 17-fold net increase in annual emissions. Decarbonization progress has stagnated since 1995, primarily due to production expansion in emerging economies with high carbon intensity. Future demand growth in these countries could hinder progress towards 1.5°C emission reduction pathways. Joint supply- and demand-side mitigation efforts are urgently needed to meet Paris Agreement goals.

Peng Wang, Morten Ryberg, Yi Yang, Kuishuang Feng, Sami Kara, Michael Hauschild, Wei-Qiang Chen