The steelmaker still relies heavily on coal for production. A new complaint made through a voluntary multinational process urges the company to curb emissions.
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Outside ArcelorMittal’s steel plant in Ghent, Belgium (John Thys/AFP via Getty Images)
European steelmaker ArcelorMittal is an industrial giant, producing more of the high-strength metal than any other company except China’s state-owned Baowu Group. Its reliance on coal-fueled blast furnaces has made it a target for clim…
The steelmaker still relies heavily on coal for production. A new complaint made through a voluntary multinational process urges the company to curb emissions.
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Outside ArcelorMittal’s steel plant in Ghent, Belgium (John Thys/AFP via Getty Images)
European steelmaker ArcelorMittal is an industrial giant, producing more of the high-strength metal than any other company except China’s state-owned Baowu Group. Its reliance on coal-fueled blast furnaces has made it a target for climate activists, who claim the Luxembourg-based manufacturer isn’t moving nearly fast enough to reduce its planet-warming pollution.
For years, advocacy groups have urged ArcelorMittal to adopt lower-carbon methods of making iron and steel. When the company sponsored the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, members of the Fair Steel Coalition staged a series of public actions, including projecting the message “True Champions Quit Coal” onto the side of an ArcelorMittal building in Luxembourg.
Now they’re trying a new tactic: formally documenting their frustration.
Last week, the U.K.-based nonprofit Opportunity Green filed a climate-related complaint through a process overseen by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development — an influential group of 38 market-based democracies, including Luxembourg. The OECD sets voluntary guidelines for “responsible business conduct” for multinational enterprises within its sphere, and civil groups can raise concerns if they feel companies aren’t adhering to those standards.
In its complaint, Opportunity Green claimed that ArcelorMittal lacks “a robust, science-based climate strategy” — which the OECD guidelines call for — and is “failing to take adequate action” to reduce its emissions. ArcelorMittal, which generated $62.4 billion in revenue in 2024, produced more than 100 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent that year, about the same amount as Belgium.
“The impact that [those emissions] are having on climate and people needs to be addressed,” Kirsty Mitchell, the legal manager at Opportunity Green, told Canary Media.
The climate group said it sent its complaint to the Luxembourg National Contact Point, a nonjudicial body that handles OECD grievances against firms in the tiny European country. Mitchell said Opportunity Green hopes to foster a “cooperative dialogue” with ArcelorMittal and to reach a resolution that accelerates the steelmaker’s efforts to clean up.
“ArcelorMittal, given its scale and influence, should really be driving more of that positive action, and that’s what we’re hoping to get out of this process,” she said.
Steelmaking is responsible for roughly 9% of global greenhouse gas emissions, making it one of the world’s most heavily emitting industries. Most of that pollution is the result of using coal-fueled blast furnaces that convert iron ore into iron. A separate furnace then turns the iron into steel for use in cars, ships, roads, bridges, furniture, appliances, and more.
ArcelorMittal operates 32 blast furnaces globally, and coal-based steelmaking accounts for about three-fourths of its annual production, according to the company.
The European steelmaker didn’t directly address questions about the Opportunity Green complaint in an email to Canary Media. But ArcelorMittal said that it remains “committed to decarbonizing our operations.”
The company noted that between 2018 and 2024 it invested over $3 billion in efforts to reduce emissions, including by testing carbon-capture technology, installing wind and solar projects, and using more scrap metal in electric arc furnaces. Scrap-based steelmaking now accounts for a quarter of its total production, up from 19% in 2018. And ArcelorMittal’s absolute emissions fell by almost 50% over the six-year period, though much of that drop was due to declining production and selling off steel and mining assets.
Still, ArcelorMittal acknowledged that “progress in decarbonizing has been slower than initially expected.”
In 2021, the company outlined plans to lead the steel industry in achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. ArcelorMittal set a goal of reducing its emissions intensity — the amount of CO2 released per ton of steel produced — by 25% globally by 2030 and by 35% for steel made in Europe. The company also pledged $10 billion in total investment to help it reach those targets, including funding for hydrogen-based steelmaking.
ArcelorMittal planned to use green hydrogen — made from renewable energy — to produce iron at a proposed facility in Gijón, Spain. New electric arc furnaces, also powered by renewables, would then convert the clean iron and scrap metal into steel. While ArcelorMittal is moving forward with the electric furnaces, in 2024 it postponed making a final investment decision on the iron-production plant, citing economic headwinds for green steel and uncertainty around the European Union’s climate and trade policies.
“Our original plans were premised on a favourable combination of policy, technology, clean energy, and market development that have not progressed as originally foreseen,” ArcelorMittal said in the email. “We are not the only company — nor is steel the only industry — to be experiencing such challenges.”
In Mitchell’s view, ArcelorMittal shouldn’t sit back and wait for all the political and economic stars to align before committing to more ambitious climate action today. Instead, she said, the company should press ahead and help drive broader demand for green hydrogen.
“We really need near-term, deep emissions reductions” to limit global warming, Mitchell said. “And we need clear direction and transformative decisions now that create certainty, and not just acting only when everything is perfectly suited.”
The Luxembourg National Contact Point will likely review Opportunity Green’s complaint within the next three months to assess the arguments and decide whether to move it forward, Mitchell said. If ArcelorMittal opts to participate in the voluntary process, it could take anywhere from six months to a few years for the groups to reach an agreement.
“Public scrutiny and independent oversight are essential to ensure companies like ArcelorMittal deliver credible climate action,” Caroline Ashley, executive director of SteelWatch, said in a news release supporting the complaint. “The stakes are too high for further delay.”
Maria Gallucci is a senior reporter at Canary Media. She covers emerging clean energy technologies and efforts to electrify transportation and decarbonize heavy industry.