Kumho Petrochemical Achieves Gold Rating from Global ESG Evaluator EcoVadis

Gold Grade Awarded to Companies Within the Top 5%

EcoVadis Gold Rating Certificate of Kumho Petrochemical. Photo by Kumho Petrochemical

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] Kumho Petrochemical announced on the 27th that the company has obtained the 'Gold' rating from EcoVadis, a global ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) and sustainability evaluation agency.

Additionally, Kumho Petrochemical's sustainability management report won the Gold Award at the '2021 Vision Awards' hosted by the League of American Communications Professionals (LACP).

Kumho Petrochemical's key achievements in EcoVadis's evaluation categories include ▲Environment ? establishing climate change response strategies and setting Scope 1 and 2 reduction targets ▲Labor/Human Rights ? joining the UNGC and expanding disclosed indicators ▲Ethics ? strengthening the ethics audit organization (appointing a compliance officer) ▲Sustainable Procurement ? enacting sustainable procurement policies and introducing ESG evaluations in the supply chain. Including excellent scores in the environment and labor/human rights sectors, Kumho Petrochemical received commendable results across all areas and achieved the Gold rating awarded to companies ranking within the top 5% among approximately 90,000 evaluated companies.

The company rose two grades from Bronze last year to Gold this year within one year, and the activities of the ESG Committee within Kumho Petrochemical’s board of directors are cited as the background for this achievement. In fact, since its establishment last year, the ESG Committee and the ESG Management Team, the practical department, have consecutively announced ESG visions and carbon-neutral growth plans, joined global initiatives (UNGC), and conducted in-house educational programs such as the 'ESG Academy.' These efforts have produced various achievements in a short period, improved related indicators, and laid the foundation for Kumho Petrochemical’s ESG system.

Moreover, the 2021 Sustainability Management Report of Kumho Petrochemical, produced mainly by the ESG Committee, recently won the Gold Award in the sustainability management category at the ‘2021 Vision Awards’ hosted by LACP, a global marketing research organization in the United States. Kumho Petrochemical’s ESG strategies and achievements were presented as interactive materials to enhance understanding, earning high scores, and the report also received the Technical Achievement Award for excellence in communication methods. This competition, now in its 21st year, involved over 1,000 organizations from 21 countries. Kumho Petrochemical’s sustainability management report ranked 10th among the top 80 in the Asia Pacific region and was included in the top 20 in South Korea.

Baek Jong-hoon, CEO of Kumho Petrochemical, stated, "This achievement is the result of sincere ESG activities by all members of Kumho Petrochemical," and added, "We will not be satisfied with today’s results and will strive to further expand the base of ESG activities in the future."