Decarbonisation in crisis: Conditions and trends in the (ecological) transformation of the German automotive and steel industry

Jenny Simon, Tobias Kalt and Markus Wissen

No 271/2026, IPE Working Papers from Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE)

Abstract: European key industries such as the automotive and steel sector have been subject to intense transformation pressure for some time. Intensified international competition and more active industrial policy intervention by national governments and the European Commission are driving process and product innovations with far-reaching consequences, among them significant implications for employment conditions. Alongside digitalisation, decarbonisation constitutes a central development trend. In the automotive industry, this is manifesting primarily as a transition to electric mobility, while parts of steel production are in the process of switching from the emission-intensive blast furnace route to direct reduction of iron ore, ideally using green hydrogen. Both developments are contested and have recently been superimposed by militarisation and a fossil rollback. This working paper analyses the conditions and trends of decarbonisation processes in both industries. It identifies workplace conflicts, workers' subjectivities, and the impact of overarching social and international developments on industrial decarbonisation as an important research desideratum.

Keywords: Decarbonisation; Digitalisation; Geopolitics; Automotive Industry; Steel Industry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J5 L5 P1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:ipewps:341636

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