[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Four LG listed companies?LG Corporation, LG Display, LG Innotek, and LG Uplus?were selected as '2020 Climate Change Response and Water Management Excellence Companies' by the global sustainability management evaluation organization CDP, the companies announced on the 29th.
CDP is a non-profit organization that analyzes and evaluates management information related to climate change. Every year, it assesses the climate change response performance of the top 200 domestic companies by market capitalization and selects the top 20 companies in carbon management and the top 6 companies in water management. LG Corporation was recognized for its achievements in implementing climate change responses across the group, including reducing carbon emissions through energy efficiency, and was selected as an excellent company in carbon management for two consecutive years.
LG Display was selected as an excellent company by receiving the highest grade, 'Leadership A,' in both carbon management and water management. LG Display invested 37 billion KRW in eco-friendly production facilities and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by about 3 million tons, or 39%, compared to 2014 before the implementation of the greenhouse gas emissions trading system. Accordingly, LG announced that it was selected for the Carbon Management Honors Club, awarded only to the top five companies in the evaluation results, for four consecutive years. In the water management sector, it was selected as an excellent company for three consecutive years, considering process improvements for water resource protection and continuous investment in wastewater reuse facilities.
LG Innotek was selected as an excellent company in both carbon management and water management for two consecutive years. LG Innotek expanded the introduction of renewable energy such as solar power and waste heat steam and introduced high-efficiency production facilities, reducing energy costs by more than 5 billion KRW last year and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions per sales by 20% annually. It also received positive evaluations for efforts to reduce water resource usage through systematic management, such as expanding investment in water recycling facilities and managing water usage per unit, and was selected as an excellent company in water management for four consecutive years.
LG Uplus was named an excellent company in carbon management for seven consecutive years. An LG official explained, "LG Uplus was the only company in the telecommunications industry selected as an excellent company in carbon management this year," adding, "By changing the operation method of cooling towers in internet data centers to an eco-friendly structure using inverter technology, it reduced annual electricity consumption by more than 13%, significantly cutting greenhouse gas emissions." It was also positively evaluated for contributing to carbon reduction by discovering eco-friendly businesses such as installing and operating solar power generation facilities linked with ESS on building rooftops.
Meanwhile, LG recently decided to establish an 'ESG Committee' within the board of directors of its listed companies by the first half of the year. This committee will serve as the highest deliberative body for ESG management, reviewing major company-wide policies related to environment/safety, CSR, customer value, shareholder value, and governance, covering Environment (E), Social (S), and Governance (G) aspects.
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