POSCOs forestation project registered as UNs CDM

POSCO, the nation’s leading steelmaker, said Thursday that its forestation project in Uruguay was registered at the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCC) as so-called clean development mechanism (CDM).

POSCO is involved in a forestation project on a 20,000 hectare plot in the South American nation as part of its push to establish forestation projects in foreign countries, in an effort to obtain more certified emission reduction (CER).

The UNFCC's clean development mechanism is a system that calls on governments of developed countries and corporations obliged to cut greenhouse gas emissions to invest money in projects to reduce gas emissions in developing countries and get credit for cutbacks.

The registration of POSCO's Uruguayan project as the U.N.'s CDM is the first among steelmakers globally. POSCO is the first South Korean business to register with the UNFCC through forestation.

In 2008, POSCO's board of directors approved a plan for the forestation for $55 million.

The steelmaker bought 1,000 hectares of Uruguayan land last August and planted 880,000 eucalyptus trees.

POSCO plans to buy additional land of 19,000 hectare by 2013.