POSCO was named the Sustainability Champion, a first for a Korean steel company, in the regular conference of the World Steel Association in the first half of the year, which was held in London, UK, on April 11.
The World Steel Association has been selecting companies that lead the sustainability of the steel industry as Sustainability Champion among about 140 members since 2018. A total of 15 steel companies have been selected as of last year by reevaluating all member companies every year to encourage them to maintain a high level of sustainable management.
This year, only POSCO was chosen, while six existing sustainability champions were eliminated and only nine companies were selected again.
To become a Sustainability Champion, companies should satisfy the following five requirements: i) selection as an excellent sustainability member ii) a finalist in the Steelie Awards iii) publication of a sustainability report iv) submission of sustainability data and v) submission of carbon emission by material and process (Life Cycle Inventory, LCI) data. The steel makers selected as Sustainability Champions are recognized as exemplary cases of ESG management and receive the highest honour.
POSCO satisfied all of the five criteria and was selected as the only new best member this year in recognition of its efforts and achievements in ESG management, including the Net-zero carbon 2050 Declaration, establishment of dedicated ESG organisation, and establishment of advanced governance.
“This is an outcome of the POSCO Group’s ceaseless efforts for net-zero carbon and development of green materials and energy,” said POSCO Group CEO Jeong-woo Choi. “We will keep leading global ESG management and sustainability trends in the steel industry based on a management philosophy of corporate citizens..” CEO Choi participated in a meeting of the executive committee, the highest decision-making body, which was held during the regular conference.
The executive committee, consisting of the CEOs of 16 global steelmakers, discussed major issues steelmakers around the world face, such as the joint development of carbon emission reduction technology, a future mobility steel solution, and the effect of the world’s infrastructure investment trends on the steel industry.
In the meeting, CEO Choi gained the consensus of the committee by proposing to establish a consortium under the World Steel Association to achieve net-zero carbon, a global issue, and to jointly develop carbon emission reduction technology in the steel industry.
CEO Choi was appointed vice chairman of the World Steel Association in October last year and will represent the world’s steel industry as chairman from October this year.
