Climate Policy Engagement Overview: POSCO appears to be actively engaging with climate regulation in South Korea with a mixture of positive and negative positions. POSCO states top-line support for South Korea’s 2050 net-zero target and policies to decarbonize the steel industry, yet it appears to take a more negative stance on specific policy areas including the Korean Emissions Trading System (K-ETS), the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (EU CBAM), and the role of fossil fuels in the energy mix.

Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: In a press release on its website published in September 2021, POSCO appeared to support emissions reductions in line with a 1.5℃ target as recommended by the IPCC. In POSCO Energy’s 2020 Corporate Citizenship Report, published in May 2021, the company stated broad support of the South Korean government’s carbon neutral policy’. POSCO has taken mixed positions on the need for climate regulation. In April 2022, CEOScore reported that Ahn Yoon-ki, the Managing Director of the POSCO Research Institute (POSRI), stated that South Korea ‘should move away from the regulation-centred carbon neutral policy’, emphasizing alternative policies such as tax credits to strategic industries. The Financial Times reported in June 2022 that POSCO had expressed concern that regulations for green steelmaking in Europe, Japan and South Korea could put companies in these countries at a “disadvantage” compared to competitors in countries with “looser domestic regulations.”

Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: POSCO’s detailed climate policy engagement appears to be broadly negative and mostly focused on the Korea Emissions Trading Scheme (K-ETS) and carbon tax, including the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (EU CBAM). However, POSCO does not appear to disclose its position on, or engagement with, climate-related policy on its corporate website. In its 2021 CDP Climate Change disclosure , POSCO opposed the introduction of a carbon tax in South Korea, citing the double regulatory burden of a tax on carbon in addition to the emissions trading scheme. POSCO has also taken a negative stance on the introduction of the EU CBAM. In December 2021, POSCO Research Institute’s Chief Researcher did not support the EU CBAM stating doubts on the EU CBAM’s “effectiveness to solve climate problems and economic growth.” However, in June 2022, Kim Hee, Vice President of Carbon Neutrality at POSCO, appeared to take a more mixed stance towards the EU CBAM, acknowledging the “urgent” matter of developing low-carbon technology in response to trade measures, while urging the Korean government to advocate for the inclusion of the K-ETS in the EU CBAM’s tariff calculations.

Although POSCO states top-line support for the Korea Emissions Trading Scheme (K-ETS), it has advocated for a number of reforms that would weaken the overall ambition of the policy. In its 2021 CDP disclosure, POSCO called for further free allocations and subsidies for its sector, citing the importance of recognizing ‘the vulnerability of the trade-exposed sector to international competition such as steel’. In June 2021, POSCO Research Institute’s Managing Director did not support the introduction of product benchmarks to the K-ETS, citing a lack of evidence on their effectiveness and concerns about competitiveness. In March 2022, a report published by the POSCO Research Institute (POSRI) advocated for the K-ETS to be reformed to exclude indirect emissions from its emissions reduction calculations, citing ‘overlapping regulations’.

Positioning on Energy Transition: POSCO appears to take mixed positions on the energy transition, supporting the decarbonization of the steel sector, increased green hydrogen production and more ambitious renewable energy policies, but also promoting the role of unabated LNG in the energy mix. In an interview with the Korea Economic Daily in June 2022, Kim Hee, Vice President of Carbon Neutrality, advocated for hydrogen-reduced steel technology to be selected as an official National Project by the South Korean government, in order to transition the steel industry away from coal-fired blast furnaces. At an Environmental Policy Forum hosted by the Ministry of Environment in February 2021, POSCO directly advocated for government investment infrastructure to support a stable supply of green hydrogen and renewable energy.

However, POSCO’s stance on other aspects of the energy transition appears to be more mixed. In March 2022, POSRI published a report that supported ‘deregulation and support measures’ for the LNG value chain in Korea in order to ‘revitalize the domestic LNG market’, without specifying the need for CCS or methane abatement measures. In January 2022, POSCO Chairman Choi Jeong-woo stated support for a long-term transition to renewable energy, but also appeared to support the expansion of LNG Exploration and production (E&P) and infrastructure without conditions around CCS or methane abatement.

Industry Association Governance: POSCO disclosed a list of its memberships to industry associations in its 2020 Corporate Citizenship Report. However, this disclosure lacks detail on the groups’ climate policy positions and alignment with POSCO’s own positions. POSCO Chairman Choi Jeong-woo holds several leadership positions in industry associations engaging negatively on climate policy, including as Chairman of the Korea Iron and Steel Association] and as a mbmer of the ‘Net Zero Research Association’ committee of the [789331 Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information, see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the company’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q4 2022.