With these new accessions, Less now represents nearly 45% of total EU steel production – marking a major step toward a unified, credible, and climate-target-aligned labelling system for low-emission steel in Europe.  Less provides a transparent and technology-neutral framework to classify and label steel products based on their carbon footprint and scrap content. It enables public and private buyers to make informed procurement decisions and supports the development of green lead markets across Europe. Arcelor Mittal strongly supports the expansion of Less. Dr. Frederik Van De Velde, CEO of Arcelor Mittal Belgium, has now joined the Less board of directors, replacing Reiner Blaschek, CEO Arcelor Mittal Europe – Flat Products who served as a founding member.

Dr. Van De Velde noted: “ArcelorMittal is a leading producer of CO2-reduced steel products. By bringing more of our European sites into Less, we are moving further towards an industry-wide adoption of a low-emissions steel standard that provides customers with information they need for their climate strategies. We want to see sustainability criteria integrated as a standard in public procurement rules across the EU member states, to make lead markets for low-emissions steel a reality: this will be essential to scaling up both public and private demand for these products. Now I am a member of the Less Board of Directors, I look forward to contributing to the goal of ensuring that Less becomes the industry standard, for steel producers and all our stakeholders.”

 The German Steel Association (WV Stahl), which co-initiated Less, has now joined as an associated member. Kerstin Maria Rippel, Director General of WV Stahl, remarked: “As one of the initiators of the Low Emission Steel Standard (Less), we remain committed to supporting this now Europe-wide initiative as an associate member. Establishing lead markets for clean steel ‘Made in Europe‘ is essential to ensuring a successful net-zero transition of the steel industry. Achieving this goal requires a transparent and robust standard such as Less.“

Dr. Carmen Ostwald, Secretary General of Less, expressed her strong appreciation for the growing number of members and the broad support from across the European steel industry: “With nearly 45% of EU steel production now represented, Less is becoming a cornerstone of Europe’s green steel transition. We warmly welcome further producers and partners who share our ambition to build credible, climate-aligned markets.”

Less aisbl
Low Emission Steel Standard 
58, Rue de Bourgogne
1000 Brussels, Belgium 
Contact person is Carmen Ostwald
info@less-aisbl.org  
www.lowemissionsteelstandard.org

About Less aisbl
Founded in autumn 2024 by 21 founding members representing the full breadth of the German steel industry, Less aisbl was established in Brussels with the ambition to become the go-to standard for labelling and verifying low-emission steel within the European Union. The standard is built on the outcomes of a stakeholder process on lead markets conducted by the German Ministry for Economics and Climate Action. The Low Emission Steel Standard (Less) provides a structured framework for assessing, classifying, labelling and verifying low-emission steel. Less allows steel producers to demonstrate and verify their decarbonisation progress in a transparent and comparable manner, using a certification system for low- and near-zero emission steel. Less aisbl is a non-profit association based in Brussels and the system owner of the standard. Less aisbl currently represents European steel producers covering almost 45% of EU crude steel production. Membership includes primary and secondary steel producers.