The South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has established a Committee for Green Metallurgy Development within its structure to prepare the steel industry for carbon neutrality.
According to the Business Korea portal, the Committee has been organized in the form of a science and industry – government partnership, the goal of which is to achieve carbon neutrality in metallurgy by 2050.
The first co-chairs of the Green Metallurgy Development Committee will be Choi Jeong-woo, CEO of South Korea’s largest steel company POSCO, and Min Dong-jun, Vice President of Yonsei University. Choi Jeong-woo also heads the Korea Iron and Steel Association (KOSA).
Low carbon evolution is no longer a matter of choice. We will focus on five key areas of our action plan for achieving carbon neutrality so that the industry can accelerate the attraction of technological innovation and investment
South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo said at the first meeting of the Committee
The action plan provides for the launch of the work of the Green Metallurgy Development Committee, the development of a concept and strategy for industrial transformation, the adoption of special laws to rapidly change the structure of the industry, R&D in the private sector, and cost reduction through deregulation measures.
During the first meeting, steel companies such as POSCO, Hyundai Steel, Dongkuk Steel, KG Dongbu Steel, Seah Steel, and SIMPAC signed a joint statement on the achievement of carbon neutrality by 2050.
Let us remind
We would like to remind that China began to prepare a program for the transition to green metallurgy with financial incentives, and British metallurgists called on the country’s authorities to develop a package of measures to stimulate iron and steel enterprises to switch to carbon-free production technologies – electrometallurgy and hydrogen.
In the European Union, the investment plan for the “green transition” of the European industry amounts to 1 trillion euros during 2021-2030 in the form of concessional loans and subsidies. Moreover, the European Commission is going to allocate about 300 billion euros from the Coronavirus Relief Fund (the fund to combat the economic consequences of the impact of Coronavirus) specifically on the eco-modernization of industrial enterprises.
Decarbonization in Ukraine
In Ukraine, the only incentive for decarbonization of the steelmaking industry is the green steel rule, according to which enterprises that have cut their CO2 emissions down to the European target level will be able to apply for a small reduction in the electricity tariff.
However, such rule exists in theory only. Six months after the adoption of the relevant law, the incentive did not get rolling due to the inability of the Cabinet of Ministers to develop the necessary legislative instruments.