April 23, 2025

Can we make steel cleaner...at Ford?

This year we have a chance to move the needle a little on green steel adoption in the automotive industry. There's a proposal to make one of the largest automakers in the US be way more transparent about it's green steel adoption - and climate change goals in general.

But why does green steel matter, and what can we do about it?

00:00 - Introduction

05:15 - Why are we reupping the green steel discussion now?

06:14 - Emissions from steel production

08:18 - Renewable energy and its impact on green steel cost.

10:53 - Social reasons for green steel

13:04 - Localising production reduces CO2

14:24 - Thanks to Public Citizen

14:37 - Background to the shareholder proposal

15:24 - Ford's current...goals.

18:04 - The shareholder proposal

23:45 - Final thoughts

25:48 - Thanks and Credits

References:

https://iasj.org/about-us/ - Investor Advocates for Social Justice

https://leadthecharge.org/ - Lead the Charge

https://www.citizen.org/about/ - Public Citizen

https://shareholder.ford.com/financials/sec-filings/sec-filings-details/default.aspx?FilingId=18320722 - Ford Proxy Statement including shareholder proposals

https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2025/03/what-is-unique-about-green-innovation_988df7ca/97e8232d-en.pdf - What is unique about green innovation?: Evidence from green hydrogen, green steel, batteries and electric vehicles

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344925001569 - Prospective environmental and economic assessment of green steel production in the Middle East

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0196890425002390 - Toward a green steel production powered by a hybrid renewable energy system: Techno-economic and environmental assessment

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.4c05756 - The Role of Hydrogen in Decarbonizing U.S. Iron and Steel Production

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5165223 - Producing Green Steel Locally in Renewables-Rich Developing Regions Enhances Socioeconomic and Climate Benefits

https://www.iberdrola.com/sustainability/green-steel - Green steel: a material ready for industrial decarbonisation and widening the horizons of electrification

https://corporate.ford.com/content/dam/corporate/us/en-us/documents/reports/2024-integrated-sustainability-and-financial-report.pdf – Ford integrated sustainability and financial report, 2024.

https://www.iberdrola.com/sustainability/green-steel – Iberdrola – Sustainability of Green Steel

Script: Kate Walton-Elliott

Presenter: Kate Walton-Elliott

Editor, Colorist: Kate Walton-Elliott

Art and Animation: Erin Carlie

Producer: Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield

Music supplied through Artlist.io

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