On November 26, the European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries (EUROFER) released a statement asking policy makers at the Copenhagen climate summit to secure equal treatment with its competitors in developed and emerging economies
"For the European steel industry and other industrial sectors which are recognized as being at risk of carbon leakage, equal treatment with their competitors worldwide must be secured. Otherwise, this will not only lead to carbon leakage, but also to leakage of jobs, knowledge, intellectual property, R&D, investment and capital from Europe to other regions in the world," EUROFER director general Gordon Moffat said in relation to the Copenhagen climate change negotiations due to start on December 7.
According to the statement, EUROFER fears that any kind of agreement at Copenhagen may be taken as an excuse by the European Commission to eliminate free allowances or reduce the list of sectors eligible for free allowances under the EU emissions trading scheme (EU ETS). "If equal burdens within sectors producing globally traded goods are not part of the international agreement, allowances free of charge and additional measures to prevent carbon leakage must be continued in their entirety under the EU ETS," Moffat stated.
EUROFER emphasized in its statement that China alone is responsible for over 50 percent of CO2 emissions from global steel production, the EU member states for only about eight percent. The climate change objectives will not be achieved if large industrial emitters such as the Chinese steel industry are not subject to equal CO2 emission reductions, EUROFER said. Emerging economies such as China, India and Brazil have by far the highest growth forecasts for steel production in the coming decades. Without full participation of their steel industries, the statement said, global CO2 emissions from steel production will increase and not decrease.