Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC)

🌊 What could the next chapter of global shipping look like?

On #WorldMaritimeDay, it's worth reflecting on how one of the world's most essential industries, but also among the most carbon-intensive, can become a driver of climate solutions.

Why decarbonizing shipping matters:

⚓ The cargo: around one-third of global maritime cargo is linked to fossil fuels, including coal, oil, and LNG.

⚓ The fuel: ships largely run on fossil fuels, releasing CO₂ and methane.

⚓ The steel: most ships are built with coal-based steel, creating emissions long before their first voyage.

In his TED Talk, @forourclimate Founder & CEO Joojin Kim shares why maritime shipping represents a hidden opportunity for climate action, and how action across policy, finance, and industry can help unlock systemic change.

📽️Watch the full talk here: ted.com/talks/joojin_k…

#CleanShipping #ClimateSolutions #TED2026 #SFOC @TEDTalks

The transition away from fossil fuels (TAFF) took center stage on Day 2 of #COP31. In a plenary session, Brazil’s COP30 presidency introduced its global roadmap for implementing the commitment countries made at COP28 in Dubai in 2023. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on governments to move beyond treating the transition as “taboo or intractable.” Day 2 recap, a thread 🧵👇

⚡ Asia’s renewable energy transition is accelerating. But can its power grids keep up?

In a new @AP News story from #COP31, SFOC’s Gahee Han highlights a growing challenge across Asia: investment in renewable energy is moving faster than the grids needed to support it.

“Unless we upgrade our power grid in Asia, Asia will have no choice but to rely on the conventional power plants, like gas or coal,” she said. “It’s nonsense to rely on those power plants, especially considering the energy crisis.”

The challenge isn’t only building more grid infrastructure. Removing outdated rules and system bottlenecks is equally critical to making better use of existing grids and integrating more renewable energy.

Advanced Asian economies like South Korea and Japan are still lagging in the energy transition, as outdated power systems and rules continue to favor fossil fuel generation and constrain renewable energy.

As recent energy shocks reinforce the case for greater energy security, strengthening and modernizing Asia’s power grids will be critical to making the region’s renewable transition possible.

🔗 Read the full AP News story here: apnews.com/article/cop31-…

#COP31 #RenewableEnergy #EnergyTransition #PowerGrids #SFOCatCOP31

#COP31 had opened in Antalya, Türkiye with Türkiye’s Murat Kurum as President and Australia’s Chris Bowen leading the negotiations. Several people remarked that this is the first COP to openly accept the world will overshoot 1.5°C. This is a recap of Day 1 through an Asia Pacific lens 🧵👇

📣 BREAKING: South Korean youth are taking legal action over a decision that could shape the country’s steel emissions for decades.

The five young applicants have filed for an injunction seeking to halt the full reline of POSCO’s Gwangyang Blast Furnace No. 2, which could extend the coal-based furnace’s lifespan by another 15 to 20 years and keep it operating well into the 2040s.

Today, Korean civil society groups gathered outside POSCO Center in Seoul for a press conference and action announcing the filing and calling on POSCO, the country’s top steelmaker and largest single corporate emitter, to reconsider the full reline.

A statement from the five young applicants was read out on their behalf:

💬 “As young people, we do not want to inherit a future that has already been decided for us by generations before us. And we do not want our only role to be bearing the consequences of the climate crisis later.”

The legal action comes after POSCO reversed its earlier plan for a limited, partial reline and opted for a full refurbishment. It follows a separate civil lawsuit filed in February 2025 by ten other youth plaintiffs arguing that relining the furnace violates future generations’ rights to a healthy environment and to life.

‼️ Projections show that another 15 years of operation alone could generate at least 137 million tonnes of additional CO₂ emissions.

For South Korea, the question goes beyond one blast furnace. As the country looks to make green transformation a driver of industrial competitiveness, continued investment in long-lived coal-based assets risks delaying the transition that its steel industry increasingly needs.

The Green Steel Civic Action (GSCA) coalition, which includes the Korean Federation for Environmental Movements (KFEM) and its local chapters, Big Wave, Action Speaks Louder (ASL), and Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC), is calling on POSCO to:

🔹 Reconsider the full reline
🔹 Publish clear furnace-by-furnace transition timelines
🔹 Redirect investment toward low-carbon steelmaking technologies

👉 Swipe through for scenes from today’s press conference and read the full press release for details: forourclimate.org/newsroom/1281

#GreenSteel #SteelDecarbonization #ClimateLitigation #SouthKorea #POSCO