Climate Action Impacts on Steelmaking Emissions of Persistent Organic Pollutants Highlight a Gap Between the Paris Agreement and the Stockholm Convention

ABSTRACT Global warming and unintentionally produced persistent organic pollutants (UPOPs) are well‐recognized global concerns. Climate action under the Paris Agreement and UPOPs control under the Stockholm Convention proceed on separate tracks. Evidence of shared health gains is limited. Global steelmaking is a measurable case. Route‐specific UPOPs emission factors and projected changes in output and technology are integrated to estimate 2019–2050 global and regional emissions. Atmospheric and lifetime inhalation‐risk models then quantify added lifetime cancer risk from steelmaking UPOPs. Under climate action, emissions of UPOPs decline by 2050. Yet cancer‐risk inequality persists. Risk shifts from traditional hubs to emerging regions—India, the Middle East, and Africa—where some areas reach 270%–490% of 2019 levels. By 2050, India shows the largest added cancer burden (2201 additional cases). Health‐risk gains are about half the carbon gains; in some regions (e.g., the Middle East, Africa), risk increases even as carbon intensity falls. These findings indicate that current climate action should be complemented by targeted UPOPs controls and a policy bridge between the Stockholm Convention and the Paris Agreement to advance global health and equity. The study provides a data basis for aligning global environmental governance and strategy‐making to advance global health and equity.