Final Briefing Held Ahead of Korea's First 'UN GIH S.I.W.' in Pohang to Discuss Carbon-Neutral Solutions

Pohang City is accelerating its transition to a carbon-neutral city by hosting the international workshop of the United Nations Global Innovation Hub for Climate Change (UN GIH), a global climate response platform.

In preparation for the upcoming "14th UN GIH Systemic Innovation Workshop (UN GIH S.I.W.)," which will be held from July 3 to 4, the city held a final briefing session on June 25 in the main conference room at City Hall.

Final briefing ahead of UN GIH S.I.W. Photo by Pohang City

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The briefing, presided over by Vice Mayor Jang Sanggil, was attended by more than 20 participants, including officials from Pohang City, the Pohang International Exhibition and Convention Center, and the commissioned agency. They shared progress updates and discussed detailed plans for the successful hosting of the event.

UN GIH is an international platform launched by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat at the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) held in Glasgow, United Kingdom, in 2021. Its goal is to discover and disseminate technologies, policies, and projects for climate change response.

Pohang City secured the domestic hosting of this workshop for the first time through a meeting with Massamba Thioye, the head of UN GIH, during COP29 held in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November last year.

The upcoming workshop, which will be held in Pohang for the first time in Korea this July, will focus on major climate response strategies centered on Pohang's key industries, including: ▲decarbonization of the steel industry, ▲environmental response and competitiveness enhancement in the secondary battery industry, ▲establishment of eco-friendly transportation infrastructure, and ▲activation of regional distributed energy.

Over 100 domestic and international experts are expected to participate in the workshop both online and offline.

Previously, on May 14, the city held a preliminary workshop (UN GIH Pre-S.I.W.) at Lahan Hotel.

The pre-event, held under the theme "Pohang: A Green Industry Economic City Together," was attended by more than 50 participants, including Massamba Thioye, head of UN GIH, as well as representatives from academia and industry. They discussed region-specific strategies in depth and expanded the foundation for international cooperation by linking with the World Green Growth Forum (WGGF).

Vice Mayor Jang Sanggil stated, "Since Pohang declared its vision as a '2050 Carbon-Neutral Environmental Dream City' in 2021, we have been steadily preparing implementation strategies and roadmaps. This workshop will be a significant turning point for deriving tailored solutions to the climate crisis for the region, as well as for strengthening solidarity with the international community."

The city plans to share the results of this workshop with the international community at COP30, which will be held in Belem, Brazil, in November, and to further strengthen cooperation with UN GIH.

Additionally, Pohang aims to advance its own climate-neutral model and actively pursue hosting the 33rd Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP33), a key national pledge by President Lee Jaemyung.

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