World Battery Forum kicks off in Seoul

The battery associations of South Korea, the US, the EU and Japan announced the launch of the World Battery Forum in Seoul on Monday.

The WBF has been established to accelerate the battery industry's net-zero energy transition, analyze worldwide battery regulations to push for an eco-friendly energy policy environment and make joint efforts to secure fair and free trade and investment as well as stable global battery supply chains.

The WBF will meet every year and change location in the order of S. Korea, the US, the EU and Japan. The Korea Battery Industry Association took charge of holding the WBF’s first official event as the host of this year’s meeting.

On the first part of the two-day event, the WBF members signed a memorandum of understanding to exchange information for each member and cooperate so that the global alliance can have positive impacts on the battery industry worldwide in the future.

Currently, there are four members of the WBF besides the KBIA: The Rechargeable Battery Association from the US, RECHARGE from the EU, Japan's Battery Association for Supply Chain, and the Battery Association of Japan.

The WBF will hold discussions Tuesday on topics including the impact of the US Inflation Reduction Act on the global battery industry, the EU's approach to carbon footprint calculations, and each country’s countermeasures and efforts to activate the used-battery industry.

“The launch of the WBF is significant in that it laid the foundation for exchanging and discussing information to strengthen joint cooperation on global battery issues between Korea, the US, the EU and Japan,” said Park Tae-sung, executive vice president of the KBIA.

“We look forward to the WBF serving as a platform for the global battery industry to cooperate on worldwide battery-related policies, regulations and standardization.”