The window to avoid locking in decades of steel emissions is closing fast 
[Policy Brief]

Bachorz, Clara; Dürrwächter, Jakob; Gong, Chen Chris; Odenweller, Adrian; Pehl, Michaja; Schreyer, Felix; Verpoort, Philipp; Luderer, Gunnar; Ueckerdt, Falko

doi:10.1038/s41558-026-02634-9

Item

ITEM ACTIONSEXPORT

Add to Basket

Release HistoryDetailsSummary

Released

Journal Article

The window to avoid locking in decades of steel emissions is closing fast [Policy Brief]

Authors

/persons/resource/clara.bachorz

Bachorz, Clara
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

/persons/resource/jakob.duerrwaechter

Dürrwächter, Jakob
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

/persons/resource/Chen.Gong

Gong, Chen Chris
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

/persons/resource/adrian.odenweller

Odenweller, Adrian
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

/persons/resource/michaja.pehl

Pehl, Michaja
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

/persons/resource/Felix.Schreyer

Schreyer, Felix
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

/persons/resource/philipp.verpoort

Verpoort, Philipp
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

/persons/resource/Gunnar.Luderer

Luderer, Gunnar
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

/persons/resource/Falko.Ueckerdt

Ueckerdt, Falko
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

External Resource

No external resources are shared

Fulltext (restricted access)

There are currently no full texts shared for your IP range.

Fulltext (public)

There are no public fulltexts stored in PuRe

Supplementary Material (public)

There is no public supplementary material available

Citation

Bachorz, C., Dürrwächter, J., Gong, C. C., Odenweller, A., Pehl, M., Schreyer, F., Verpoort, P., Luderer, G., Ueckerdt, F. (2026 online): The window to avoid locking in decades of steel emissions is closing fast [Policy Brief]. - Nature Climate Change.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-026-02634-9

Cite as: https://publications.pik-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_34461

Abstract

Coal-based steel plants risk locking in 60 billion tonnes of CO2 by 2070, but most of these emissions can still be avoided at moderate cost. Steel need not be hard to decarbonize: policymakers must seize the narrow window to redirect investments towards cleaner alternatives this decade.