She has criticised the BBC's coverage of environmental issues, when environmental analyst Roger Harrabin endorsed the Government of the United Kingdom's actions on climate.[29] Steinberger supports the work of Greta Thunberg and the school strike for climate activists.[30] She was one of 238 academics who called for the European Union to limit economic growth and instead promote stability and wellbeing.[31] Steinberger has been the Lead Author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 6th Assessment Report for Working Group 3.[32] She was also Lead Author on the Urbanisation knowledge module of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) Global Energy Assessment.[33] She is on the Steering Committee of Future Earth.[34]