Study Group on Green Steel for Green Transformation (GX) to be Launched

1. Background

The steel industry is an emitter of around 10% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in Japan and accounts for almost 40% of the total emissions in the industrial sector. To achieve a decarbonized society, it is necessary for the industry to reduce emissions through the promotion of GX. However, the industry may face the risk of bearing higher costs in manufacturing steel products in the initial stage of the decarbonized steelmaking process compared to conventional products.

As some companies inside and outside Japan have recently been taking action to sell green steel, the expansion of the green steel market is significant for sustainable investment in GX.

Against this backdrop, METI launched the Study Group on Green Steel for Green Transformation (GX) in October 2024. The study group held five meetings to discuss an action plan to expand the market and compiled the discussion results into a report.

2. Overview of the study group’s report

The report states that the steel industry should work on the following efforts going forward.

[i] Promoting GX value and reflecting it in international standards

• Facilitating the understanding of the significance of the GX value inside and outside Japan
• Collaborating with the worldsteel and international initiatives, and promoting discussions inside and outside Japan on methodology for evaluating Green Steel for GX as a product with a low carbon footprint (CFP)
• Formulating rules for product-specific CFP calculation rules for steel products and reflecting the rules in the Japan’s CFP guideline. Holding discussions on the adoption of the rules in governmental policies, including the life cycle assessment (LCA) of buildings.

[ii] Enhancing the utilization of CFPs for steel products

• Encouraging customers to use CFPs
• Enhancing the use steel products with low environmental impact
• Promoting the development and disclosure of CFP data about steel products, and facilitating discussions on the methods for using non-fossil fuel energy certificates (NFC) with steel products.

[iii] Providing support to the demand side

• Providing focused support through priority government procurement and the purchasing of Green Steel for GX during the early stage of production
• Providing incentives for automobile manufacturers through clean energy vehicle (CEV) subsidy program

[iv] Providing support to the supply side

• Providing support to the supply side, including support for multi-track technological development, capital investment and tax measures
• Promoting the effective utilization of steel scrap through collaboration among related businesses

Related Materials

• Report by the Study Group on Green Steel for Green Transformation (GX) (January 2025)(PDF:3,091KB)
• Report by the Study Group on Green Steel for Green Transformation (GX) (Summary)(PDF:586KB)

Related Link

• Report by the Study Group on Green Steel for Green Transformation (GX) (in Japanese)

Divisions in Charge

•  Metal Industries Division, Manufacturing Industries Bureau

• GX Promotion Planning Office, Environmental Policy Division, GX Policy Group