Hyundai Engineering Expands ESG Management "Leap to Global Top Sustainable Company"

2021 'ESG Management System Expansion'... Accelerating Value Creation
Aiming for Trust Management, Eco-friendly Construction, and Social Value Leadership
Establishing a Global Top-tier Sustainable Management System
'Selection and Focus', 'Strengthening Collaboration and Partnerships' Social Contribution

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] Hyundai Engineering is making 2021 the year of ‘ESG Management System Expansion’ and accelerating the creation of ESG value. ESG refers to the non-financial factors of a company: Environment, Social, and Governance. As global credit rating agencies have begun to consider ESG as a key indicator for assessing corporate sustainability, it has become a highly important area in corporate value evaluation.

According to industry sources on the 8th, Hyundai Engineering has set its ESG vision as ‘Global Premier Sustainable Partner.’ This means becoming a global top-level sustainable partner based on three goals: ▲Trust Leader (leader in trust management), ▲Green Leader (leader in eco-friendly construction), and ▲Social Value Leader (leader in social value), through which it will establish and operate a global top-tier sustainable management system.

First, the goal of ‘Trust Leader’ focuses on securing trust with stakeholders through ethical compliance management and supply chain ESG risk management. To secure the highest level of ethics and transparency as a global construction company, Hyundai Engineering is revising and monitoring internal ESG-related policies and plans to expand the ESG management system across all areas of the business value chain.

Second, the ‘Green Leader’ aims to create eco-friendly value by advancing environmental management systems and proactively responding to climate change. Actively addressing the globally recognized issue of climate change, Hyundai Engineering sets target values for each indicator such as greenhouse gases, water usage, and waste, introducing a more practical environmental management system. It will also continuously seek energy and water-saving technologies used on-site and broadly expand eco-friendly elements in materials.

Lastly, the ‘Social Value Leader’ builds a culture of respect for human dignity and enhances social value by actively solving social issues in local communities. It implements high-level human rights policies across all business areas to realize the value of respecting human dignity, strengthens business competitiveness through effective human resource management, and introduces systematic systems and processes to prevent major disasters and safety accidents. For local communities, it creates social impact through social contribution activities utilizing the characteristics of the construction industry and continuous support projects for vulnerable groups.

Hyundai Engineering is also actively strengthening ESG communication with internal employees and external stakeholders. To enhance ESG communication with employees, it plans to open and operate an ESG information portal on the company intranet, allowing easy access to ESG directions, activities, achievements, and trends. It will also promote ESG activities through quarterly consultative bodies and improve employee capabilities through ESG education. For external stakeholders, it plans to communicate ESG strategies and achievements in detail through a sustainability management report presented in graphic and in-depth report formats.

Based on these efforts, Hyundai Engineering voluntarily participates in the highest authority global sustainability management indices such as the DJSI (Dow Jones Sustainability Index) and plans to internalize ESG management through continuous improvement.

Application of ‘Selection and Concentration’ and ‘Collaboration & Partnership’ Strengthening Model to Create ‘Social Value’

Along with this, Hyundai Engineering will apply a social contribution model that leads the resolution of social issues in local communities and creates ‘social value’ through ‘selection and concentration’ and ‘strengthening collaboration and partnerships’ in social contribution activities in 2021.

Support for Opening Goodwill Store Milal Ilsan Branch.

Since 2017, Hyundai Engineering has actively engaged in job creation for people with disabilities by conducting donation activities with the vocational rehabilitation facility for the disabled, ‘Goodwill Store,’ and supporting the opening of new stores. Moving beyond simple donation-based social contribution activities, it creates jobs where disabled workers directly participate in the entire process of reprocessing and merchandising donated goods?from collection, sorting, processing, to packaging?helping them generate labor income and establish a foundation for independence. This is a representative social contribution activity of Hyundai Engineering that creates ‘social value.’

It also leads support activities for marginalized neighbors in local communities. Since 2013, Hyundai Engineering has signed an MOU with Seoul City and supports residents of shantytowns through housing support, self-sufficiency support, emotional support, donation of goods, and volunteer activities. Various activities are underway, including ‘Didimdol House,’ which remodels old shanties and re-leases them to residents at low cost; ‘Kkotpiuda,’ a joint workshop producing and selling various floral products to help emotional vitality and economic independence; ‘Didimdol Cultural Classroom,’ which helps restore self-esteem and foster positive interpersonal relationships through diverse cultural lectures; and ‘Chuseok Homecoming’ for shantytown residents who have not visited their hometowns for a long time. These systematic and practical supports have greatly contributed to housing stabilization and self-sufficiency of socially marginalized shantytown residents, earning Hyundai Engineering the ‘Seoul Metropolitan Government Welfare Award’ excellence prize.

Additionally, Hyundai Engineering has continuously carried out the ‘Gift House Campaign,’ which helps disaster-vulnerable families using modular houses developed in-house. Starting in 2015 in Eumseong, Chungbuk, Hyundai Engineering has supported a total of 28 modular houses in Cheongsong, Gyeongbuk; Pocheon, Gyeonggi; Jinan, Jeonbuk; Hongcheon, Gangwon; Jangheung, Jeonnam; Okcheon, Chungbuk; and Wanju, Jeonbuk, contributing to housing stability for families facing disaster crises due to severe housing deterioration.

To effectively solve social issues in local communities, Hyundai Engineering will further strengthen and implement an integrated cooperative social contribution model that expands the scope of social contribution cooperation.

Hyundai Engineering donated Laos 'New Hope School No. 9' and the appearance of the global employee volunteer group.

The ‘New Hope School Project’ is Hyundai Engineering’s representative overseas social contribution activity that has contributed to closing the education gap by providing academic opportunities to children in regions with poor educational environments among overseas expansion countries through new construction, extension, and renovation of school facilities since 2010. Hyundai Engineering plans to collaborate with NGOs and local education departments to expand support beyond school renovations to educational programs, establishing an e-learning education system over three years in a community in Indonesia within this year.

Hyundai Engineering has been carrying out the 'Happy Move Goryeoin Village Development Project' since July 2018.

Since July 2018, Hyundai Engineering has been conducting the ‘Hyundai Engineering Happy Move Korean Village Development Project’ to support the sustainable development of the Korean ethnic village, Ahmad Yasavi Village, located in Tashkent Province, Uzbekistan. For this project, Hyundai Engineering collaborates with Hyundai Motor Group’s ‘Happy Move Global Youth Volunteer Corps’ to conduct educational volunteering, home repairs for low-income Korean households, cultural performances, and plans to strategically carry out various activities, including continuous support for the Korean village community through the construction of a community center within the year.