Hyundai Engineering & Construction announced on the 22nd that it has published the '2024 Sustainability Management Report,' which contains its sustainability management activities and achievements.
This report, the fifteenth since its first publication in 2010, transparently discloses performance in accordance with the principles of sustainability management information disclosure. In particular, it proactively adopted sustainability management disclosure standards that comply with international standards to preemptively respond to mandatory disclosure requirements, and was published after reporting to the Transparency Management Committee under the Board of Directors.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction included in the report the achievements carried out for sustainable development based on the four major sustainability management promotion systems (prosperity, environment, people, governance principles) and eight major promotion strategies by sector.
Based on the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), the report separately organizes global disclosure indicators, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) evaluation indicators, major issues in the construction industry, and material ESG issues assessed by key stakeholders, while enhancing the materiality assessment methodology. It analyzes opportunities and risks for major issues such as climate change response, industrial safety and health, and quality management, and derives the resulting financial impacts. These contents are disclosed divided into four categories: governance, strategy, risk management, and indicators and targets.
Sales of sustainable products based on the European Union (EU) Taxonomy (eligibility criteria) have steadily increased. Last year, the proportion of sustainable product sales based on separate sales was 61% (9.6 trillion KRW), marking a three-year consecutive increase following 46% (4.7 trillion KRW) in 2021 and 52% (6.2 trillion KRW) in 2022. Along with sales, capital expenditures (CapEx) and operating expenses (OpEx) related to sustainable products were also added. Capital expenditures represent investment amounts to produce sustainable products, and operating expenses represent the costs of eco-friendly research and development. By adding these two items, the report clearly presents the achievements generated from green business.
The report also reviews achievements in climate change response and safety and quality management activities. Hyundai Engineering & Construction is working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption at construction sites by transitioning to zero-emission vehicles, expanding procurement of renewable energy such as solar power, and developing low-carbon materials. Through various greenhouse gas reduction activities, the company reduced its separate basis direct greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1) and indirect emissions (Scope 2) to 363,374 tCO2e (tons of carbon dioxide equivalent) last year, a decrease of 21,462 tCO2e compared to the previous year.
In the safety management sector, the company has increased investment for three consecutive years, focusing on creating a safe working environment. It developed and utilizes the concrete quality issue prevention system 'Q-Con' at construction sites to prevent major defects in advance. Following global trends, Hyundai Engineering & Construction disclosed ESG information for six major subsidiaries for the first time. Through the 'ESG DATA (Consolidated)' section in the report, key ESG information can be found not only for Hyundai Engineering & Construction but also for Hyundai Engineering, Hyundai Steel Industry, Hyundai Urban Development, Songdo Landmark, Hyundai Eco Energy, and Hyundai Seosan Farm.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction was recognized for its sustainability management achievements by being included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index World (DJSI World) for the 14th consecutive year. It was also selected as an outstanding company in the 2023 annual report of the Standard & Poor's Global (S&P Global) Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) as a Yearbook Member.
In his foreword, Yoon Young-jun, President of Hyundai Engineering & Construction, stated, "Hyundai Engineering & Construction is practicing global-level ESG management by establishing a 'Net Zero' promotion strategy aiming for carbon neutrality by 2045 and putting all efforts into achieving zero major accidents and defects. We will faithfully fulfill our role and responsibility as a global construction leader to create a sustainable tomorrow."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
