Steel producers want to present a global response to climate change and have begun by launching a vast operation to collect data at sites worldwide, they said Tuesday.
Meeting in Berlin, members of the International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI) committed themselves to gathering information on carbon dioxide emissions from all steel plants in member countries.
The project is the first step towards agreeing on a global plan to reduce CO2 emissions, according to the IISI, which represents 180 steel producers.
"Cap and trade regional policies such as those currently used in the EU (European Union) are not effective in reducing carbon dioxide emissions," said Philippe Varin, head of the steelmaker Corus.
They "could be a very serious threat for the euro steel industry," while failing to reduce emissions effectively, he added.
According to IISI figures, steel production worldwide emitted 2.1 billion tonnes of CO2 last year, compared with 1.4 billion tonnes in 1990.
Varin, who is also a member of the IISI executive committee, said the best way to cut emissions would be to help producers in developing countries improve their technology.
At the top of the list are Chinese producers, which accounted for 34 percent of all steel production last year and for 51 percent of CO2 emissions.
"There is a long tale of inefficient sites in China," Varin noted.
Only 20 percent of Chinese production is represented within the IISI at present, however.
