Good Things Happen E5: Hard to Abate Sectors
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In series 5, episode 5 of Good Things Happen, host Alex Miller is joined by Irina Gorbounova, Vice President M&A and Head of XCarb Innovation Fund, ArcelorMittal, and Liz Curmi, Global Thematic Analyst, Citi Global Insights, to discuss hard to abate industries, and share their insights on decarbonization and how the world progresses to net zero in this space.
Irina Gorbounova outlines key opportunities for the steel industry, including the potential to reduce carbon emissions and address climate change, and for cross-industry collaboration and partnerships to accelerate low-carbon solutions.
Liz Curmi highlights the progress that the steel, cement, and shipping sectors have made in decarbonizing, spurred by government support and legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act.
Our guests express cautious optimism for opportunities and progress, but they acknowledge the significant work required to decarbonize these industries, recognising the challenges but importance of the journey ahead.
Citigroup, Citi and ArcelorMittal are not affiliated and are independent from each other. Though ArcelorMittal has a client relationship with Citi through Citi's banking and international business. The speaker's views of their own and may not necessarily reflect the views of Citi or any of its affiliates or opinions are subject to change Without notice, neither the information provided nor any opinion expressed constitutes the solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security. The expressions of opinion are not intended to be a forecast of future events or a guarantee of future results.
Irina Gorbounova is a senior leader focused on sustainability, impact investments, and decarbonization. At ArcelorMittal, the world’s leading steel and mining company, she is responsible for executing strategic M&A deals and sustainable ventures in steel and mining. She also leads the investments of XCarb™, an innovation fund focused on companies developing breakthrough technologies to accelerate the steel industry’s transition to carbon neutral steelmaking.
Irina has about two decades of experience in breakthrough technology investments and impact investing and an expertise in mergers and acquisitions. She is in the board of numerous high-impact growing companies, including Boston Metal, H2Pro, Hydeal and Form Energy among others. Irina is a member of the Leadership council of the Breakthrough Energy Catalyst and member of GCV Global Industry Sustainability Council. She has also strong philanthropic presence, serving as a Member Board of Directors at the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children and Impact Campaigner of Women in Renewable Energy, a non for profit global network of professional women in the renewable energy industry.
With extensive experience in M&A and venture leadership, Irina is passionate about a zero-carbon future for the steel and mining industry and brings a forward-thinking perspective on how to achieve net zero goals.
Liz Curmi, PhD, is a Director and Global thematic analyst working within the newly created Citi Global Insights division, designed to provide thought leadership content and insight to the full breadth of Citi’s client base. She works in the Sustainable Finance Team and leads the workstream on climate finance and energy transition. Liz is the lead author of many of the most read Citi GPS reports including food and climate change, climate finance, Global Carbon Markets, Hard to Abate Sectors and Emissions and Voluntary Carbon Markets. She has co-authored several other reports including biodiversity and sustainable ocean economy. Prior to joining Citi, she worked as a postdoc researcher at the University of Cambridge focusing on the interconnections between water, energy and land resources and their impacts on greenhouse gas emissions. During this time, she had countless meetings with policy makers all over the world, providing advice on the impact that climate change could have on natural resources including the availability of water and the production of food. Liz has a PhD in environmental economics and has presented her work in many academic conferences, UNECE, UNFCCC COP meetings, corporates and to government officials. She has worked with many of the leading experts in sustainability including the University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Stanford, Tsinghua University, University of Berkeley, and others. She has also published her research in many of the leading scientific journals including Nature Climate Change.
