RMI China: Grantee Spotlight (Q3 2026)

The Giving Green Fund is awarding a grant to RMI, restricted to support RMI’s Representative Office in Beijing (RMI China), for its green steel and ammonia programs, which aim to support and grow commercial markets for low-carbon materials in China. 

RMI China's work falls within our philanthropic strategies of decarbonizing iron and steel, and decarbonizing ammonia (discussed in our Industry sector report). Please see Giving Green's strategy and sector reports for more information, including potential risks and co-benefits, recommended sub-strategies, theory of change, funding need, and key uncertainties.

Last updated: October 2026

What Is RMI China?

RMI China develops technical and economic solutions to support decarbonization across China, with a focus on market mechanisms that support low-carbon energy systems. It works across China’s power, industry, transportation, buildings, and agricultural sectors. RMI was established in 1982 and opened its China office in 2014.

What Are We Funding, and How Could It Help Address Climate Change?

China produces more fossil-based steel and ammonia than any other country. It is also a key innovator in clean technology, with the largest pipeline of green steel and ammonia plants in the world. However, key barriers still hold back large-scale deployment, including limited demand for green industrial products and the small number of commercial-scale operating plants to demonstrate project feasibility. Because of its advanced manufacturing capabilities and access to natural resources such as iron ore and cheap renewable energy, China is well positioned to commercialize green ammonia and steel. 

RMI China plans to use our grant for the following activities:

Steel: RMI China is expanding the Sustainable Steel Buyers Platform (SSBP) to China. The SSBP was initially launched in North America as the world's first buyers' platform for low-carbon steel. It aggregates demand from groups of buyers and facilitates offtake agreements that can help unlock investment in early-mover plants. In China, it will also support interoperability between Chinese and international steel standards and pilot mechanisms such as book-and-claim, to reduce the operational complexity of offtake agreements.

Ammonia: RMI China plans to identify replicable deployment models for green ammonia, develop transition strategies for each model, and work with industry stakeholders and industrial parks in priority regions to support their deployment.

Why Do We Think RMI China Will Use This Funding Well?

RMI operates the activities of RMI China pursuant to a Certificate of Authorization of Representative Office of Overseas NGO registered under the supervision of China's National Energy Administration. It has long-standing partnerships with the steel, chemicals, and automotive industry associations, which together represent thousands of member companies in China. These relationships give RMI China a clear view of the overall landscape and provide a direct pathway for its research and analysis to drive impact in China. Since technical analysis and decarbonization pathway planning are not typically in the scope of industry associations’ work, RMI China fills an important informational gap.

RMI China has advanced green industry in China in several ways. It was a source of research for some of the earliest decarbonization roadmaps for steel and chemicals, and it provided technical analysis that contributed to the development of China's low-carbon steel standard, which has since certified 34 steel products. It has also produced important research on green hydrogen and ammonia. RMI China translates its report recommendations into action through relationships with industrial parks and companies developing early-mover projects in key regions in China.

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We publish grant spotlights to offer transparency to Giving Green Fund donors and resources for those interested in the impact strategies each grant supports. Giving Green believes our Top Climate Nonprofits have the greatest impact potential for large, unrestricted gifts. For several reasons, we also disburse and recommend grants to other organizations surfaced through our research process for work that we believe is at least as impactful as grants to our top recommendations.

This is a non-partisan analysis (study or research) and is provided for educational purposes.

RMI is a registered nonprofit in the U.S.

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