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⬅️➡️ Coal phaseout pathways are rapidly diverging in two of Asia’s largest economies: Japan and South Korea. 📊 These are the latest findings from Global Energy Monitor’s 2026 Boom and Bust report, highlighting a growing shift away from coal even as capacity additions continue in some markets. SFOC's contribution to the Korea-Japan section reflects broader global discussions on the growing interconnectedness of energy security, economic competitiveness and climate goals, presenting coal transition as an opportunity to build more resilient and future-oriented clean energy systems. 🗝️ Key Findings 🇰🇷 South Korea’s commitment to halt new coal development and phase out around half of its 40GW of operating coal capacity by 2040. This created room to reevaluate public coal financing and realize new opportunities to accelerate clean energy investment. Korea’s commitment to 2040 coal phase out positions the country as an emerging middle power leader in global energy transition policy. 🇯🇵 In contrast, coal phaseout pathways in Japan, home to the fifth largest coal fleet in the world at 53GW, remain gradual, placing emphasis on incremental emissions reduction rather than establishing a binding timeline for coal power plant retirement. Shifting away from abatement technologies towards actual phaseout mechanisms will be critical for both reducing Japan’s dependence on coal and scaling up renewable energy expansion. 🗝️ Key Takeaways 🌏 Public and private finance play a pivotal role in coal phase‑out by driving transition instruments such as green bonds while scaling renewables to cut fossil import risks. 💸 Sovereign green bonds and transition finance, paired with renewable energy investment, are key to phasing out coal and securing industrial resilience. See the full picture in 📘Boom & Bust Coal 2026, the definitive annual survey of the global coal fleet by GEM and partners: https://lnkd.in/eHTYZ3RM  #ClimateAction #CoalPhaseout #BoomandBust #GEM #SFOC

🌏 🚢 #DidYouKnow? How we transport energy impacts our oceans. 🐳 🪸 🐠 Our oceans are global biodiversity hotspots, but they are also increasingly shaped by energy transport routes. While environmental impact assessments often stop at onshore LNG terminals, the journey does not. LNG carriers regularly cross sensitive marine corridors, bringing cumulative risks: underwater noise, invasive species, and intensified shipping traffic. From whale breeding grounds in the Mozambique Channel to coral reefs in the Coral Triangle, these routes overlap with some of the most ecologically significant ecosystems on Earth. 🪸This #WorldBiodiversityDay, we highlight a critical gap: marine ecosystem impacts across LNG shipping routes remain largely unassessed. Protecting biodiversity requires looking beyond the terminal to address the full lifecycle of global energy systems. 🔎 Read more on SFOC Insights: https://lnkd.in/gNrfcgCQ 🔎 Dive deeper into the issue with our report: https://lnkd.in/gzYKaUCr #ClimateAndNature #LNG #MarineBiodiversity #OceanProtection #WorldBiodiversityDay #SFOC Stand.earth SkyTruth Habitat Recovery Project

🌍⚖️141 countries. One message: climate action is a legal obligation. Yesterday, 141 countries, including South Korea, endorsed a UN General Assembly resolution backing the International Court of Justice (ICJ)’s Advisory Opinion on States’ obligations in the climate crisis. This sends a clear signal: climate action is not only a political commitment, but a legal responsibility. While the final resolution reflects compromise, it still calls for a just and orderly transition away from fossil fuels and the phase-out of inefficient subsidies. This serves as an urgent call to action for major financiers like Korea and Japan. The message is clear 👉 the era of voluntary pledges is giving way to accountability. Now, we look ahead to COP31, the focus must shift from endorsement to implementation. 🔗 Read SFOC's statement here: https://lnkd.in/ginZqh_r #ClimateAction #InternationalLaw #UNGA #SFOC #EnergyTransition

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🐢 Institutional investor stewardship codes around the world are responding to the climate crisis. 🇰🇷 South Korea is falling behind. As climate and financial risks converge amid the growing threat of climate change, stewardship codes – guidelines applied to institutional investors overseeing entrusted assets like pension schemes and sovereign wealth funds – are evolving accordingly. Yet, despite mounting evidence linking code revisions to changes in investor behaviour, Korea remains one of just two among 15 countries surveyed yet to integrate climate and ESG factors into their stewardship codes, further exposing participating investors. 📉 Experts predict expected losses for Korean banks and insurance companies could reach KRW 45.7 trillion (USD 30.5 billion) in the absence of climate action, almost twice the potential losses under a 1.5°C scenario. 🔙 KOREA NATIONAL PENSION SERVICE (NPS), the largest institutional investor signed on to the Korea Stewardship Code, is itself moving backwards, with no climate-related criteria in its voting guidelines and companies engaged on climate risk management falling from 29 to 13 between 2024 and 2025. The absence of climate provisions in the Korea Stewardship Code means there is little incentive for meaningful implementation.  Latest report by Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC) highlights these gaps, contrasting global trends in climate stewardship code reform with the current state of the NPS. It proposes five principles for revision:  🔸 Formally recognize climate and ESG as core elements of fiduciary responsibility  🔸 Make climate factors mandatory from the policy-setting stage  🔸 Establish climate risk as an official item for review and engagement  🔸 Introduce climate-related voting criteria   🔸 Establish a climate accountability structure subject to external verification 🔎 Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/ghXjtVCk #AssetManagement #ClimateRisks #ESG #Governance #StewardshipCode #SFOC