Lotte Home Shopping to Create Fine Dust Reduction Forest Five Times the Size of Yeouido Area

Ministry of Environment Signs Business Agreement with Environmental Foundation

Lotte Homeshopping signed a business agreement with the Ministry of Environment and the Environmental Foundation on the 21st at the Environmental Foundation in Jung-gu, Seoul, to protect vulnerable groups from fine dust and respond to the climate crisis. From the left, Choi Yeol, Chairman of the Environmental Foundation; Cho Myung-rae, Minister of Environment; Lee Wan-shin, CEO of Lotte Homeshopping.

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Lotte Homeshopping announced on the 22nd that it has signed a “Business Agreement for Protecting Vulnerable Groups from Fine Dust and Responding to the Climate Crisis” with the Ministry of Environment and the Environmental Foundation.

The signing ceremony held on the 21st at the Environmental Foundation in Jung-gu, Seoul, was attended by Minister of Environment Cho Myung-rae, Lotte Homeshopping CEO Lee Wan-shin, Environmental Foundation Chairman Choi Yeol, and other officials. The Ministry of Environment, Lotte Homeshopping, and the Environmental Foundation agreed to contribute to the low-carbon transition by creating urban green spaces that reduce greenhouse gases and absorb fine dust, and to promote projects that protect vulnerable groups from high concentrations of fine dust.

According to the agreement, from 2021 to 2025, over five years, a total of 500,000 trees will be planted in vulnerable areas such as fine dust intensive management zones to create 50 eco-friendly green spaces called ‘Sum;Pyeonhan Forest’. This area is equivalent to five times the size of Yeouido and 45 times the size of a soccer field. Air-purifying plants will be planted to naturally reduce fine dust, and facilities that directly absorb and adsorb fine dust, IoT (Internet of Things)-based measuring devices to monitor fine dust concentration, air shower barriers, and fine dust rest areas will be installed as reduction and avoidance facilities. Additionally, exercise and convenience facilities, as well as walking paths, will be created to provide a pleasant urban resting place accessible to everyone.

‘Sum;Pyeonhan Forest’ will also be used as a citizen-participation eco-friendly campaign space. Citizens will directly participate in tree planting and forest space creation, and various promotional campaigns related to fine dust reduction and climate crisis response will be conducted. Furthermore, there are plans to expand this into job projects linked with local communities in the future.

Minister of Environment Cho Myung-rae stated, “The Ministry of Environment amended the Fine Dust Act last year to strengthen public health protection measures for vulnerable groups,” and added, “Through this agreement, I hope social interest and participation in solving fine dust and the climate crisis will increase, and it will serve as an opportunity to realize a society without environmental exclusion.”

Meanwhile, since 2017, Lotte Homeshopping has actively promoted the importance of the environment by conducting eco-friendly campaigns with the Environmental Foundation on themes such as ‘fine dust reduction,’ ‘greenhouse gas reduction,’ and ‘recycling’ (reuse and recycling). In June 2018, it held the fine dust prevention campaign ‘STOP! Fine Dust, GO! Recycling’ in Sinchon, Seoul, and in November last year, it hosted the ‘2019 Eco Fest in Seoul’ at the Culture Tank in Seongsan-dong, Seoul, featuring various programs including an eco market and environment-themed talk concerts.

Lee Wan-shin, CEO of Lotte Homeshopping, said, “We planned the ‘Sum;Pyeonhan Forest’ project to participate in solving fine dust and climate change and to encourage continuous interest and participation,” and added, “We will continue to carry out various eco-friendly social contribution activities and practice green management throughout our operations to take the lead in building a sustainable society.”