welcome to bets on the future where we highlight the various career paths in the electrifying Metals World from the vehicle you ride in to the bridge holding it up medals are everywhere why not in your career too I’m Jennifer Betts a medals industry veteran with almost 20 years experience here to highlight these incredible career paths As Told by the women who are living them welcome to bets on the future this week we have Adena Renee Adler she is the executive director for the Global Steel climate Council Adena was appointed executive director of the Global Steel climate Council in December 2023 she was previously Deputy executive director at Silverado policy accelerator a think tank leading their work on trade and the circular economy critical mineral Supply chains and other key trade and environmental policy issues while also executing Silverado’s growth strategy Adena was also vice president of advocacy for the Recycling Industries Association The Institute of scrap recycling Industries isri now the recycling materials Association Rema director of global government Affairs for Alcoa and arconic the international government relations adviser for Shell Oil Company adena’s government service included working for the office of the United

States trade representative USR and the US Department of Commerce she has a ba in international Affairs for the George Washington University and Ma in international economics in international law from the John Hopkins University School of advanced International Studies sis please welcome to the bets on the future podcast Adena Renee Adler well I just want to say a huge thank you to Our Guest today because if you’re listening you can’t see this but um for somebody that follows you on LinkedIn um I have to say thank you because I’m looking at you in a hotel room and I know you’ve been in um a few of those recently few airplanes recently um I want to give a warm welcome to Adena Renee Adler the executive director of the global seal climate Council to the best on the future podcast thank you so much for uh jumping on I know uh we are squeezing into a very busy schedule as of late so I again thank you so much for for hopping on to this podcast yeah no thank you so much for having me Jennifer I’ve been looking forward to this that’s for sure and

uh finding the time to do it has been um hard but at the same time I was determined to get on the schedule no matter what so this is great it um it we were slightly uh optimistic that maybe we could have met in Vegas last week um at your I I’ll call it your Alma moer um actually where we first met I want to say many moons ago um you know spoiler alert uh you you know going back um uh man how how many years ago now has it been since we met I mean seven eight six five I’m not sure time has gotten away from me that’s for sure yes um but the the the reference and depending on when this podcast comes out um it is the isre 2024 conference which has been now rebranded the Rema conference it’s the recycled materials industry conference and um unfortunately you actually uh were coming back from Europe going to Europe uh I I was in Europe I actually got invited to five events in one week which is not a commentary poity but a commentary on for whatever reason everything was being crammed

in the same week and I think everybody was thinking about well Earth Day is coming up so we got to get messaging out I guess um and so I had to make the tough decision that uh three of them were in Europe um was I I rejiggered the schedule to be there in person but then I still had the opportunity to participate um at is uh on my panel by Zoom um so God bless technology for allowing to do as much of it as I possibly could that’s that’s amazing um I’m gonna have to go back and um uh check out that panel because that’s pretty impressive probably also not great for the time zone change for you though it was a little late um but it was worth staying up we had a conversation about the uh EV supply chain um and uh it was actually a really Dynamic conversation where we talked with people who think about you know um the the dismantling and the recycling of electric vehicles and I was thinking about the material elements especially from a steel point of view um and um and you know just what

does that all kind of look like going into the future so it was a it was a great discussion so yes please go go back and look take a look at it it it really is quite interesting that you know from from your perspective and your background you really are perfectly set up to be in the position that you are today because of your background um and and I want to get a little bit into it because I don’t imagine most people you know from their childhood think Metals I want well so like I kind of want to get into that like like where was that Turning Point like how did you get into this industry like you know tell me a little bit more actually it’s not that I did this intentionally but I did grow up around Metals um my father was a Fastener distributor um and so he was a importer of screws nuts bolts you know everything that goes right into making everything on the planet um and and then he would be a distributor you know to the manufacturers um mainly here in the United States and so it’s

funny when I visit a steel mill now and I had this when I worked for Alcoa too when I would visit um aluminum Mills there’s this there’s this smell of metal covered in oil that is like literally transports me back but that’s actually has that that childhood experience has nothing to do with how I got here um other than um you know having the opportunity you know to go to the college that I want to and study International Affairs at GW at George Washington University in DC um and a master’s in in international law and international economics um and then just translating that into a career that where I could you know make a difference in the world in some way so worked for the Commerce Department worked for the office of the US trade representative being an advocate for us businesses and overseas markets um I went to work for Shell Oil company which was super interesting in learning about energy economics um and it’s a commodity space and then of course you know when I think back well they’re a major consumer of Steel products so that was helpful um and uh

then I jumped to a aluminum um and Alcoa you know aluminum and steel have so many similarities um in terms of international markets and international econ and and the economics of the businesses just obviously in in in different ways but very similar um and and then of course I got to go work for I for a while which was awesome um and promoting um you know the fact that recyclable Commodities are tradable Commodities um so working you know sticking with my International Trade um expertise and passion um but but still on behalf of uh of the manufacturing supply chain um and then I went go do a little thought leadership uh for a while on circular economy and critical minerals and supply chain resilience and um and then found myself here in metals but so it’s been this long winding road that no when I was a kid I thought I was going to be a diplomat um so I always knew there was going to be some like International angle but I thought I was going to get into into the state department and work in embassies overseas and I learned very very

early on that that wasn’t the only path towards some International Connection in my career and I have no regrets that I didn’t go in that way because I found so many of these other opportunities and you know just the last comment I’ll often talk to recent grads students you know who will come to me and say how do I get your job and I’m like well first you’re GNA have to start at the bottom like we all do but also like there you know some people really feel like they need to have a plan I’m going to do this for five years I’m G to do that for five years and that is not at all how I got here I I still don’t have a plan um but I just grab on to Opportunities I meet interesting people I see the the wide world of how we live and how what what the economics look like and what the environment needs from us and just see where I can fit in and make a difference well the Global Steel climate Council didn’t even exist when you were in college right like so how

could you even it didn’t exist while I was in inury right yeah I know so the the Global Steel climate Council or GC because we love our acronyms in in Washington um was founded in late 2022 um by a group of steel companies that uh uh have heard the call for uh emissions reduction in the steel industry and they’re taking the bull by the horns and saying all right we’re going to do this and we’re going to be ambitious and we’re going to hold ourselves accountable and we’re GNA we’re gonna we’re going to show the world that we’re going to make actual and real um emissions reduction this is going to be our climate strategy um and uh so they formed in 2022 and I was still doing some other work um but uh I got a phone call last summer asking if I would be interested um and maybe taking up the helm as their first executive director and I from from the get-go so interested in it because um I can I can still be involved in manufacturing and in metals in particular um but I can still embrace my tree

hugging self um and do right by the environment um and um build some skill sets and and knowledge and interest and networks along the way well and I imagine it’s ALS Al the Diplomat because steel is everywhere right and it is a global commodity and obviously you’re you’re traveling the world as well so it it seems I mean that’s kind of what I alluded to at the beginning like it really does feel like this is where you should be like your your career has led you perfectly to this position again that didn’t exist a few years ago yeah no it really has been an amazing experience and I haven’t even been in it for five months which is also although it feels a lot longer um which is which is pretty amazing um I do kind of feel like I I found a a spot for myself in the universe and um and doing my best to um be ambitious even in how I grow the organization and how we set you know how I set goals for myself I mean I even had the board say to me that maybe my goals were

too ambitious and I my response was well why not you know I may not meet them but I’m not afraid to try and um uh and so it is it is this great Confluence of personal interests career interests and and passions um you know combined with some skill sets that I’ve picked up along the way and because it is an international commodity there are a lot of um issues and events that happen around the world you wouldn’t think geopolitically um that the steel industry can or should care about but they do um because of the impact and I and I don’t think that I would have been in a good place you know to be able to process all of that and support the industry in a way that I can without all the Liv of experience that I’ve had in within cultures within different economies within different political systems um and and being able to process that information and and advise the businesses on understanding where they need to go from here I really liked your tree hugger comment on you know earlier because uh there is this sentiment that that’s out there

and uh that’s a little bit I’ll say it it’s negative towards Steel in in some regards just you know from from an outsider’s perspective and it’s frustrating to me because because those individuals shy away from our industry instead of someone like yourself that says no I’m going towards it I can use my knowledge my expertise and make it better right like you look at it as an opportunity of okay they understand that there is an issue here that they are wanting to make it better they’re looking at decarbonization how do we introduce new technology how do we execute that new technology and they go for it instead of oh we’re just going to complain about it from the outside and not do anything about it yeah and that’s what’s so amazing about the companies that I work with and and it’s not like a new phenomenon they’re not just deciding oh you know so if you look on our website a lot our mission statement actually incorporates Paris climate agreement because the idea is to drive um emissions reduction towards a one and a half degree scenario Ario by um by 2050 as outlined

in the Paris climate agreement we utilize the Ia carbon budget to get there but you know that was signed in 2015 so we’re not even 10 years since then but the companies have been doing it for like 50 years and it’s not well understood 70 70% of Steel in the United States is made through a circular process which is already a way lower carbon footprint than the traditional steel making um which is the other 30% and even then the traditional steel making in the US is at least a lower carbon footprint than we see in say China you know so it’s this it’s it is this narrative that doesn’t understand yes globally it it you know I think the steel industry accounts for seven to eight 7 to eight% of global emissions but we’re taking into consideration the dirty sources within the IND industry and it and which overrides somehow in the uh in the mindset all of the real green metal that’s coming out in the US and in Europe and in in South America as well in particular um and that it is a good industry they um and and it’s not

just about utilizing recycled metal it’s about the Investments that they’re making in renewable energy um to be able to power the furnaces not from fossil fuel based energy but from alternative sources um it’s the innovations that are coming on board soon for Advan you know more Advanced Technologies to make steel and a what will be a low carbon or near zero carbon future so um it actually really is super exciting and um and they’re mindful that you know their employees who live in the communities just want to live in a place where the air is cleaner um and so it’s a way to do right by their you know their own people so um it is it’s pretty it’s pretty exciting what’s out there we just we just got to find it and I think there is a recognition kind of generally that they that we all they all you know need to tell a better story about that anyway and this is one way to do that absolutely it’s something that I run into dare I say on Tik Tok uh you know with that narrative that the and it’s getting better I

will have to say because there are a handful of steel companies that are getting out there a little bit more on some of the social media sites sharing what they’ve been working on you know being a little bit more um open about some of those Investments that that they’re making that isn’t what has been I would say traditional in the past um of what people have have expected from from a steel company and it really does put in perspective when you take a look at the United States versus you know some of the rest of the the world um and obviously I’m biased I am from the United States but I really do think what we’re we’re working on here in the United States from our raw materials from our green energy options to the labor force we really are set up very nicely to be at the Forefront of the metals manufacturing space for a variety of reasons and again what you’re working on at the gsdc is really incredible to to see not just from obviously bringing you know the the manufacturing aspect um to folks attentions but to your point like

you’re you’re working on you know reaching um the pis climate climate agreement right like you’re working on additional aspects um that again traditionally people think of Steel not necessarily as the cleanest thing and there are ways to to make it I you know net neutral cleaner there are other ways to produce it yeah and not only that that they are contributing to other Industries who are making their own um emissions reduction and sustainability commitments because steel is everywhere um and you know whether it’s in infrastructure build outs it’s the next generation of buildings and bridges is you know where where there’s a conscious decision to utilize you know lower carbon input materials um to Vehicles who are making I mean there are several brands that are making commitments to make a net zero whatever that means but a net zero automobile and and to be doing it soon um or you know the renewable energy infrastructure itself the wind towers and the frames that hold solar panels are all steel you know so you you can it’s it’s that’s the amazing power and the fact that that low carbon steel is already available on

the market it’s growing and then it contributes to this holistic approach to a more sustainable future it really has been interesting to see what feels like the past 5 to 10 years this this shift but shift maybe is not the right word but almost this exponential increase of uh you know Investments of um development technology uh implementation in the steel industry I’ve been in the industry a couple decades and there was talks about some of these things 20 years ago but it really doesn’t feel like until 10 years ago maybe that some of these things really started to to take off is that probably I mean that’s just perception for me yeah no I think I think that’s about right and I have not been in the industry that long so you know those who have been in a lot longer can forgive me you know if I don’t recall the exact date of you know when it really took off but but the important thing is that it is right but um I think what’s important to note because you and I are both American um although we may have listeners in outside

of the United States but a lot of this grew because of the market opportunity not because it was there was pressure from an environmental Community or a government or others saying wait a minute you guys are terrible you need to improve they already knew that the Technologies were were in existence it was creating efficiency gains um and more and more uh steel consumers were interested in the product and oh by the way it was good for the environment it was like I don’t want to say that it was like an afterthought it was just you know what I see in a lot of these conferences that I’m attending uh especially in Europe and and I realize it’s a little bit of a different situation but there’s so many calls on governments to do this and governments to do that and the handouts that are needed and more regulation and I sort of think about the last 40 to 50 years of the of the exponential growth of the electric Arc furnace in particular um steel producing uh technology and almost all of that came on its own without pressures and without mandates uh regulation

and even to some extent not even with subsidies although you know tax issues tax breaks or other things but you know if if we just allow the market to make those decisions and the market is largely driven by consumers we will see success in this continue um and of course it needs to be done in a in a very green and sustainable way and that’s happening in in in the west how do we stimulate that in the East is or in the global South however you want to call it um I think that’s really really important it’s not happening but uh but yeah no I completely agree with you I think it it really did take off in a Consciousness way but it was already happening and just for clarification because this podcast does scan over you know the full supply chain I suspect a lot of the listeners at this point hopefully because they’ve probably heard me say an eaf electric Arc furnace a few times at this point but if they’re unfamiliar with an electric Arc furnace it is one of the two ways to make seal it’s essentially taking existing seel

and remelting it with shocker electricity hence the electric uh in that name and um it’s one of the uh dare I say more sustainable ways to make steel at this point just because it’s usually a lower carbon footprint because it’s already yeah existing steel you’re just heating it up to a high temperature remelting it and pushing it out through a continuous gas T in process and that is all 100% true and yet the companies that run electric art furnaces also recognize that there’s more even more that they can do to lower their carbon footprint even more right and so the GCC what we did is we created a standard um that incorporates both a corporate wide emissions reduction Target setting framework with product certification where you can Market a product um with a certain carbet footprint and all of this of course has to go through a whole auditing and verification process um uh as based on this what we call the steel climate standard um and but what I don’t do is tell them how to do it um all we can do is say here’s how you set your targets and then

we require that they be um checked you know every 3 to 5 years to make sure that they continue on their path uh their pathway down so I don’t tell them how to do it but what I’m hearing from the marketplace are so many different ways that they can continuously reduce their carbon footprint footprint even when they’re already using 100% scrap and this is a great um alternative to other programs and approaches that are affording you know certified low carbon steel whatever that means almost entirely based on how much scrap utilization while also complaining that there isn’t enough in the world and I don’t I don’t understand how you have a program that’s based on a deficiency already built in um but but all of this is to say is that yes the electric art furnace a little bit more sustainable um but there’s even more that they can do and we have the pathways for the integrated to also join us on this journey you know it just it it it requires hard choices I don’t at all doubt that but it doesn’t mean that we’re asking yes if you sign up today

to become a member of the GCC we’re not asking you to reduce your carbon footprint in 5 years we’re actually it actually is written into the standard that there is a good you just need to be on our Glide path by 2040 so it gives companies plenty of time to figure out what does that business model look like what are the Technologies how do we prepare for the transition which may include having to address um other community Labor uh environmental um Waste Management all kinds of different Power issues to be able to get on that Glide path but um you know but if the ambition is there and the interest is there you know we’re here to be a guide which I think that’s a really great way to look at it because the integrated facilities that do exist in the United States for instance you know they weren’t built yesterday um none of them were built in the past decade for instance um and so a lot of them are coming up at that timed for reinvestment is what I’ll call it and so it it does come at a good time to

take a look at okay you’re going to need to reinvest in those structures anyway into those processes this is probably a good time to take a look at okay for the next 10 20 30 years how do I want to operate right what’s the best way to move forward in essentially a competitive landscape if the growing eaf is going to continue to produce this type of product how do I compete with that what are the options you know and just it it’s an opportunity for them to reassess before they start making Capital Improvements yeah and it just may depend on you know what is what is the market requiring or requesting or demanding um you know so what is the customer base need and and and and so then thinking about what does that business model look like of the future to be able to meet um that customer demand for sure exactly when you were talking about raw materials when it comes to the Recycled steel um I saw one of the uh eaf companies post on uh Instagram recently that they recycle 20 million tons of steel a year and when people

start talking about oh we may not have enough scrap or recycled materials apologies Rema if you’re listening um we export in the United States roughly around 17 million tons of Ferris a year um and so that’s roughly about the same amount as essentially the largest steel manufacturer in North America so we essentially would have to see that amount of capacity coming online that would absorb that amount of I almost said it I’m it’s gonna take some time recycled that’s right uh recycled material so I mean it’s definitely possible for that to come online but at the same time our population is growing our consumption is going to be growing and also we’re going to be generating more of that recycled seal down the line so I I don’t necessarily buy into personally right now that we’re going to run out of that material um down the road but well we’re not going to in the US but there I think there are real challenges though um in other parts of the world and steel is being made in a lot of different countries including throughout um you know the developing World um where the

infrastructure for collection and recycling is barely existent in a lot of different places or in the case of china it exists but they’re still making apparatus is so ginormous you could you can’t there’s no way to supply enough raw material recycled or non-recycled as as possible to to feed those furnaces um but I I do think it’s it is a I do a real challenge though when you look at the when you look at it globally um so we are in a lucky position for purposes of our domestic consumption and needs um you know and if we are uh able to to collect and process more than we need here you know to what extent we fulfill um you know that that demand in other parts of the world and we do obviously through through trade uh which is really critically important but um but there are a lot of estimates of of um tremendous Brownfield growth sorry Greenfield growth uh in the developing world where they which is why there’s so much steel making happening um that you know they may it it’s that much production that’s going to be required you

know and and that’s I mean But the irony of the whole thing is that steel is made to last forever so it’s it although I always say to people it’s not so much the steel itself it’s the product that it’s in and when you think about automobiles for example you’re going to have user error that’s going to shorten the life of the steel so you know recycled becomes available um but buildings are intended to last 50 years and bridges are you know Baltimore and out with standing but uh bridges are intended to last um just about as long as they possibly can so then of course you don’t have that ready supply of recycled metal um in the future if steel is actually doing its original intent and job of of lasting a very long time so I do think it’s a real it is actually a real problem in in a number of regions around the world but we are we are lucky that uh that we find ourselves in a comfortable position here in the US absolutely and to put in perspective for those who may not be aware of our comfortable

position is is how I’ll put it for the United States the way that we make it up here is 70% roughly of our steel making is made from eafs the electric Ark furnaces the other 30% is from traditional steel making the integrated from mined materials and then Europe is essentially switched you know um roughly 70% is from the integrated method and 30% is from the eafs and it sounds like they’re they’re going to be pushing for more eafs over there hence the greater desire for the Recycled steel um increase over there and then you know to switch it over to China for instance which is four or excuse me uh 10 times the size of the United States uh yeah steel uh Market just for size reference um even though we’re number four and they’re number one just hug huge jump um they are 10% eafs 90% integrated so if they just even hop up a little bit of their EFS like that’s I mean it would be a giant jump and the amount of demand for those recycled materials so yeah and and it was always it was always the intent in China

until they realized that they just didn’t have enough recycled material supply and so I think the plan for building out eaf has slowed down a little bit until they can kind of you know figure that out I do want to give integrated especially in the US um and and to some extent in Europe too I want to give them some credit that they are trying to build into at least interim Solutions ways to incorporate the use of more recycled metal to you know uh as opposed to iron ore so as to replace a little bit I mean they can only go up to I think 20% utiliz 20 or 25% utiliz ation but that’s better than where some companies I think are at less than five so um so definitely credit where credit is due but then that’s their that’s that just uh contributes to that increased demand yes and just as a you know former shout out I I was uh a raw materials manager at AKA steel now Cleveland Cliffs so I did purchase recycled steel for the integrated facility so yes I I was putting recycled steel into those um uh

furnaces over there there so we were trying to utilize as much as we could but obviously there is a like you said you could only put so much in there so right right it it maxes out um I I know that we’re probably bumping up against your schedule um but is there any like last minute thoughts did we did we miss any additional topics that um I know we we uh went a little bit over on no it’s okay I think just coming back on brand one of the most amazing things about so in my travels I’ve been trying to also meet some of our steel companies right and um I’ve talked to representatives of all of them and there’s just so many women that I do connect with um although a lot of them you know at least of the ones I’ve connected with so far you know are in the are in the office the headquarters the SE sues right so in their sustainability offices there’s lots of women in sustainability which is amazing um women in advocacy and in the legal department and especially in Communications um but I’ve had a

chance now to visit Three um plants and at all three of them um not that I’ve asked or requested for it but there are women on the floor and they are super passionate about the work that they do um they love their jobs um in fact there was one in particular who’s in leadership I think she’s she’s like a she was a section manager of some sort and you could see you know the guys who work for her being differential um it’s they just they really truly believe in what they do and these are companies that are giving them the opportunity um and without the old biases of whether or not women can can handle you know that hard work um that’s the part that’s been super fun um is meeting them and and getting to know getting to know just what makes them want to come to work every morning so that’s that’s been pretty cool that’s fantastic to hear because I’ve I’ve talked to some women that you know the moment that they see the first time a charge bucket drops metal into an EF they’re like I’m done like I’m I’m

hooked sold like they’re like cool it gets me every time um I admit I couldn’t work in a job like that but I only say that because I’m not trained like I’m not a scientist to understand the Metallurgy is so beyond me I’m a I’m a total I’m a policy person and uh and an advocate um but it is you you do see that and it’s it’s pretty it’s pretty awesome it it it is really cool if anybody ever has a chance to tour steel mill Rolling Mill like do it don’t say no it’s really kind of like a once- in a-lifetime opportunity to especially if it’s running uh it’s it’s incredible um really appreciate your time uh thank you so much um if anybody wants to get a hold of you the best way LinkedIn um visit the website yeah um all of the above um and uh no Jennifer thank you so much for for uh inviting me and for having this conversation and thanks to you for all the passion that you put into this um into this industry by your writings by your Tik Tock feed um as well

of course as this podcast um really it’s it’s because of you that um that these opportunities are coming to light um so thank you Jennifer for all the work that you’re doing thank you Aden Adler executive director of the global seal climate Council thank you so much