POSCO, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, and 2 Other Agencies Sign MOU for Marine Forest Creation

POSCO, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Korea Fisheries Resources Agency, and Pohang Industrial Research Institute
MOU for Enhancing Blue Carbon and Fisheries Resources

POSCO, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the Korea Fisheries Resources Agency (FIRA), and the Pohang Institute of Industrial Science and Technology (RIST) signed a business agreement on the 24th at the POSCO Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, to create sea forests for blue carbon and the enhancement of fishery resources. From the left in the photo: Lee Chun-woo, Chairman of the Korea Fisheries Resources Agency; Kang Do-hyung, Minister of Oceans and Fisheries; Lee Si-woo, President of POSCO; Go Dong-jun, Director of the Environmental Research Institute at the Pohang Institute of Industrial Science and Technology. Photo by POSCO

POSCO is creating sea forests in collaboration with related organizations to enhance blue carbon and fishery resources. Blue Carbon refers to carbon absorbed, sequestered, and stored in marine ecosystems, gaining attention as a carbon sink to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

On the 24th, POSCO signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the POSCO Center in Seoul with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Korea Fisheries Resources Agency, and Pohang Institute of Industrial Science and Technology (RIST) to create sea forests for enhancing blue carbon and fishery resources.

Through this agreement, the four parties will cooperate to ▲ promote carbon neutrality, fishery resources, and biodiversity ▲ conserve healthy marine ecosystems and activate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) management ▲ and strive for international certification of sea forest blue carbon such as seaweed.

Following this agreement, POSCO and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries plan to invest 1 billion KRW each from national and POSCO budgets from May 2024 to 2027 to create sea forests covering 2.99㎢ in the waters of Gupyeong 1-ri and Mopori in Pohang, and will consider expanding cooperation to the Gwangyang area thereafter.

The steel by-products used in creating the sea forests have high mineral content such as calcium and iron, which effectively promote seaweed growth and photosynthesis. This not only restores fishery resources in damaged marine ecosystems in a short period but also contributes to biodiversity conservation.

It is expected that the synergy will be greater by combining POSCO and RIST’s experience in creating sea forests using steel by-products with the technology of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and Korea Fisheries Resources Agency, which have created numerous sea forests covering approximately 317㎢ across 245 locations to date.

Attending the signing ceremony were POSCO President Siwoo Lee, Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Dohyung Kang, Chairman of Korea Fisheries Resources Agency Chunwoo Lee, and Director of Pohang Institute of Industrial Science and Technology Dongjun Ko.

POSCO President Siwoo Lee stated, "POSCO has contributed to restoring marine ecosystems by creating sea forests using steel by-products in domestic desertified marine areas near steelworks such as Pohang, Yeosu, and Ulleung." He added, "We will continue to cooperate to make this the most successful public-private-academic collaborative sea forest creation model responding to climate change and biodiversity crises."

Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Dohyung Kang said, "We plan to successfully promote public-private cooperation projects for sea forests to overcome the climate crisis and conserve marine ecosystems, preparing various cooperation measures to expand corporate participation." He added, "We will also do our best to respond to climate change in the international community, including international certification of sea forest blue carbon."

Meanwhile, POSCO was recognized for its efforts to protect marine ecosystems and was selected as the Eco-Innovator award winner in the environmental category at the Global Corporate Citizenship Conference (ICCC·International Corporate Citizenship Conference) held by the Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College in the United States last April, becoming the first Asian company to receive this honor.

POSCO plans to continue restoring marine ecosystems and enhancing blue carbon and biodiversity through sea forest creation activities using steel by-products.