Sustainability

Steel for a Sustainable Society

Our Sustainability Report for 2023

The Cleveland-Cliffs Sustainability Report 2023 covers information and data for calendar year 2023, unless otherwise noted. This report is structured around five sustainability priorities that we believe are important tenets of our Company identity, and we take regular action to demonstrate progress on these tenets.

Steel for a Sustainable Society
Our Commitment to the Environment
Empowering Our People
Connecting with Our Communities
Acting with Integrity.

Report content and disclosures are aligned to the relevant GRI and SASB Standards for the iron and steel sector, and we obtained external limited assurance of our consolidated Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions data. We welcome your sending questions and feedback about this report to sustainability@clevelandcliffs.com.

Download Sustainability Report 2023

Archived sustainability reports are available here.

You can also download a two-page highlights sheet of our sustainability progress for 2023.

Download Sustainability Highlights 2023

Material ESG Topics

As a newly formed vertically integrated iron and steel company in 2021, Cleveland-Cliffs’ Corporate Sustainability team engaged with its leadership and internal subject matter experts from cross-functional departments to determine its material environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics to include in its annual sustainability report. Identified ESG topics were deemed material if they had an impact on Cliffs, its key stakeholders and the industry at large. These topics were also aligned to globally accepted, voluntary sustainability reporting frameworks such as the Global Reporting Initiative and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board. Since then, and on an annual basis, Cliffs’ Corporate Sustainability team engages with leadership and internal experts to validate these material ESG topics to define sustainability report content and data.

List of Material Topics: Environmental Management; Climate & GHG Emissions; Air Quality; Energy; Water; Waste; Land & Biodiversity; Health & Safety; Talent Management; Labor Relations; Stakeholder & Community Engagement; Charitable Giving & Strategic Partnerships; Corporate Governance; Ethics & Compliance; Public Policy; and Value Chain Engagement.

Cleveland-Cliffs TCFD Report

The Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) provides recommendations for companies to report on their climate-related governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets. Cleveland-Cliffs is pleased to share its TCFD Report 2022.

Download TCFD Report 2022

Commitment to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Steel for a Sustainable Society

Reducing Our Carbon Footprint

We regularly track our progress against our goal of reducing combined absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 25% by 2030. In 2023, these emissions remained below the goal ahead of the target year. We are pleased to report that our Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions intensity averages--company-wide and for our integrated steel mills--have continued on a favorable downward trend. Our integrated steel mill average is 28% lower than the global average.

While we’re proud of these results, we’ll continue to reduce GHG emissions by prioritizing efficient operations and actionable, commercially viable technologies and solutions. We have dedicated resources for research and development of decarbonization technologies. In addition, we’re working with commercial and academic partners on projects focused on energy efficiency, industrial electrification, carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS), and clean electricity and fuels such as hydrogen.

View our Climate Commitment Plan

Spotlight

Cliffs H and Hydrogen

Our hot briquetted iron (HBI) product is a compact, high-quality, environmentally friendly metallic source that is a premium alternative to scrap and imported pig iron. We utilize HBI as a key raw material input in all of our furnaces, including in our blast furnaces to reduce the coke rate and lower emissions.

CLIFFS H™ is a surcharge for steel produced with our carbon-friendly HBI. Use of our HBI in our operations is a strategic sustainability initiative that provides our customers with a cleaner steel product that helps them meet their own sustainability goals. In 2023, we saw the most consequential steps advancing towards the next phase, CLIFFS H2™, in which we will implement the use of hydrogen as a reductant. Hydrogen can be used in ironmaking furnaces to reduce carbon in the chemical reaction to convert iron ore into high-purity metallic iron.

Over the last year, we conducted successful trials of hydrogen injection into our blast furnaces at Middletown Works and Indiana Harbor, where we also commissioned a dedicated hydrogen pipeline in anticipation of the future U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) hydrogen hub in Indiana.

Environment

Reducing Our Impacts

We proactively manage our environmental impacts, and seek opportunities to conserve natural resources and restore land and habitat where possible. We aim to advance the clean energy transition while decarbonizing our business and improving overall human health and well-being.

Social

Empowering People, Connecting with Communities

Cliffs has a proven history of attracting and retaining exceptional talent. We believe our employee-centric management philosophy is the key to our success. We provide team members with the necessary tools and education to build a prosperous career, and we are proud of our strong union partnerships. We value our host communities and seek engagement with neighbors and stakeholders. Through operating responsibly, charitable giving, strategic partnerships and employee volunteering, we maintain our social license to operate now and into the future.

Governance

Acting with Integrity

Ethical corporate governance practices and responsible value-chain management are table stakes to doing business. Through cross-functional internal collaboration and external partnerships, to research advancements in decarbonization technologies and advocate for fair policy, we are well positioned for long-term sustainability.

Our Products

Steel for a Sustainable Society

As a vertically integrated iron and steel company, we create a closed-loop steel recycling system that enables us to be a responsible steward of the environment, mitigating impacts on climate change while creating sustainable steel solutions for the transition to a low-carbon economy. Our technical expertise and research and development capabilities allow us to continually innovate our products for a changing world.