India’s Steel Boom Threatens Global Climate Targets: Report

India’s aggressive plans to double its steel output by 2030 could put its climate goals—and broader international targets for reducing industrial emissions—at serious risk, according to a new report from Global Energy Monitor (GEM).

Steelmaking currently accounts for about 12% of India’s greenhouse gas emissions. I Photo: Tata Steel

As the world’s second-largest steel producer, India’s decarbonization path will significantly influence the sector’s global emissions, said Astrid Grigsby-Schulte, co-author of the report and project manager for GEM’s Global Iron and Steel Tracker.

“If the country does not increase its plans for green steel production, the entire sector will miss an important milestone,” she warned. “So goes India, so goes the world.”

Steelmaking currently accounts for about 12% of India’s greenhouse gas emissions, and that figure could double within five years under current coal-dependent production strategies, the report said.

Meanwhile, India continues to push for a clean energy transformation, aiming to install 500 gigawatts of renewable power by 2030 — enough to serve nearly 300 million homes.

The nation recently surpassed 100 gigawatts of installed solar capacity, most of it added in the last decade, Japan Times also reported.