Severstal aims to have biodiversity-friendly steel production by 2036

BAKU. Nov 19 (Interfax) - Severstal has developed a strategy to transition to steel production that has less impact on biodiversity, the head of the Russian steelmaker's environment department, Olga Kalashnikova said.

"We have completed the development of a biodiversity strategy. [...] A so-called biodiversity-friendly steel plant is the goal that we want to achieve by 2036. The strategy will be implemented in two stages. Until 2028 we will work within the context of current operations and including upstream. After 2028 we will expand all our practices to downstream as well," Kalashnikova said during a session at the Russian pavilion at the UN COP29 climate change conference in Baku.

One of the key elements of the strategy, policy, includes voluntarily committing not to operate in specially protected natural areas; assessing the direct and indirect impact that the company's operations have on biodiversity, risks and opportunities; working to preserve rare species; monitoring; publishing a biodiversity report; and setting key performance indicators for the strategy's management.

The KPI set by the company break down into three groups. Financial indicators include investment in preserving biodiversity and ecosystems. Management KPI include assessment of risks and the biodiversity preservation program itself. Nonfinancial indicators include environmental and plastic footprint, as well as a comprehensive indicator that factors in waste, air pollution, water use, spatial violations, vibration, radiation and noise pollution.

The company will roll out the strategy gradually. Initially it will gather data on its impact on biodiversity, then it will develop a corporate program for all business units, and finally it will transition to biodiversity-friendly production.