Australia-based miner Rio Tinto has announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China’s largest steel producer, China Baowu Steel Group, and Tsinghua University, one of China’s most prestigious and influential universities, to develop and implement new methods to reduce carbon emissions and improve environmental performance across the steel value chain. The agreement was signed at the China International Steel and Raw Materials Conference organized by the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) held in Qingdao.
The agreement will enable the formation of a joint working group to determine a pathway to support the goal of reducing carbon emissions across the entire steel value chain, which accounts for between seven and nine percent of the world’s carbon emissions.
“This pioneering partnership across the steel value chain will bring together solutions to help address the steel industry’s carbon footprint and improve its environmental performance. The materials we produce have an important role to play in the transition to a low carbon future. We are already doing this in aluminum and now, through this partnership, we will be doing it in the steel industry,” Rio Tinto chief executive J-S Jacques said.
“China Baowu is committed to ecological and sustainable development. We will promote sustainable production through intelligent manufacturing. We want to make a difference to the iron and steel ecosystem by developing greener factories and enterprises to deliver a cleaner, more sustainable steel industry,” China Baowu chairman Chen Derong said.
