Son Byung-hwan, Chairman of NongHyup Financial Group, Emphasizes 'ESG Internalization' from a Business Perspective

NongHyup Financial Group held the Social Value and Green Finance Council, an ESG management council, at its headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 29th. Son Byung-hwan, Chairman of NongHyup Financial Group, is presiding over the discussion at the 1st Social Value and Green Finance Council.

[Asia Economy Reporter Sim Nayoung] NongHyup Financial Group announced that on the 29th, it held a Social Value and Green Finance Council meeting at its headquarters located in Jung-gu, Seoul, chaired by Chairman Son Byunghwan. At the meeting, they reviewed the achievements from last year through the first half of this year, including the establishment of an ESG management system, expansion of ESG investments and products, joining international agreements, and improvements in external evaluations. They also comprehensively discussed the plans for the second half of the year, which include establishing a carbon neutrality strategy, revitalizing green finance reflecting the characteristics of each affiliate, and publishing an ESG management report.

Next, an interim report was presented on the ‘Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Implementation Advancement Project’ currently being promoted by NongHyup Financial. The project aims to build a company-wide climate change response system by implementing the TCFD recommendations. It consists of three main tasks: ▲measuring carbon emissions of the asset portfolio and setting reduction targets ▲establishing a carbon neutrality achievement strategy ▲building a climate risk management system.

Since declaring support for TCFD in October last year, NongHyup Financial has completed measuring internal carbon emissions, established a TCFD implementation roadmap, and published a TCFD report. Accordingly, in March this year, they declared the ‘2050 Carbon Neutrality Achievement’ and plan to complete by the end of the year the measurement of financial emissions and the establishment of a carbon neutrality achievement plan according to international agreement standards such as PCAF (Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials) and SBTi (Science Based Targets initiative).

Chairman Son stated, "As the importance of E (Environment) among E·S·G grows, it is crucial this year to elevate our climate change response capabilities to a global level," and urged, "Please strive to approach ESG not just as a simple concept but from a business perspective, and through company-wide promotion of green finance, turn the ‘climate crisis into an opportunity.’"