Posco International joins global efforts for biodiversity

Heo Sung-hyung (left), head of Posco International Sustainability Management Office, and Jennifer George, chief executive of EAAFP, pose for a photo during the signing event at the Songdo Posco Tower in Incheon on Wednesday. (Posco International)

Posco International, the trading and energy arm of Posco Group, said Thursday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership to join forces for biodiversity.

Under the agreement signed Wednesday at the Songdo Posco Tower in Incheon, Posco will partner with the EAAFP to carry out projects that preserve domestic and foreign habitats of black-faced spoonbills.

EAAFP, established in 2006, is an international organization dedicated to the conservation of migratory waterbirds and their habitats. It consists of around 40 governments and several global non-governmental organizations.

Posco is set to offer EAAFP 150 million won ($112,900) over the next three years. The company will also join the Corporate Champion Program, EAAFP’s flagship project, where corporations can get international certification for their environmental contributions.

Posco has worked with Incheon to preserve wildlife and flagship species like black-faced spoonbills since 2022. Namdong Reservoir, Incheon's largest spoonbill breeding ground, has been transformed into a wooded area to prevent waste accumulation.

“We have put constant efforts into biodiversity conservation as part of our sustainable management projects. I hope this agreement will contribute to the preservation of East Asian-Australasian migratory birds,” said a company official.

Globally, Posco has supported studies on Javan gibbons in Indonesia since 2021. The company has also been planting mangrove seedlings near Jakarta to restore a mangrove forest since 2019.

By Park Min-ha(en23mp@heraldcorp.com)