NongHyup Financial Group Reviews ESG Management Status... 2nd ESG Council Meeting

Son Byung-hwan, Chairman of NongHyup Financial Group, is presiding over the "2nd NongHyup Financial Social Value and Green Finance Council" held on the 26th at the NongHyup Financial Group headquarters meeting room in Jung-gu, Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] NongHyup Financial Group announced on the 26th that it held the 'Social Value and Green Finance Council' to review the group's ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management status and accelerate its momentum.

At the council, the winners of the ESG idea contest 'Let's Brainstorm ESG,' which actively involved employees last month, were introduced and case presentations were made. The winning entries by category included 'Renewable Energy Projects Utilizing Idle Facilities Across NongHyup,' 'Proper Earth Card and Savings (Ga),' and 'Employee-Exclusive Walking App WalkTree.'

Next, an interim report was presented on the establishment of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) implementation system. CEO Lim Dae-woong, the Korean representative of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI) and the consultant conducting the project, reported on NongHyup Financial Group’s internal carbon emissions measurement and the TCFD recommended disclosure roadmap based on global TCFD regulatory trends.

There was also a session to review the progress of ESG initiatives. Among the 15 ESG promotion tasks across five major sectors established at the first meeting in April, outstanding cases reflecting the characteristics of each affiliate were shared, and in-depth discussions on the future direction of ESG management advancement were held.

NongHyup Bank has been reflecting environmental and social risks in project financing (PF) investment reviews since joining the Equator Principles in August, NongHyup Life Insurance is building a paperless business system by providing electronic contracts using QR codes, and NongHyup Property & Casualty Insurance issued the industry's first ESG bond.

Son Byung-hwan, Chairman of NongHyup Financial Group, emphasized, "The ESG promotion tasks established at the beginning of the year have been well implemented, and the ESG management foundation has been systematically established in a short period of time," adding, "ESG promotion is not a grand discourse but practical action in daily life, and it is important to do even one thing properly."