Companies invest big in environment, safety areas in 2022

A furnace in Posco's steel factory in Pohang, North Gyeongsang, makes molten metal on Jan. 1. [YONHAP]

Korean companies spent more than 5 trillion won ($4.04 billion) in 2022 to help cut air pollution and promote workplace safety as part of their so-called environment, social and governance (ESG) management, a report said Wednesday.

The country's top 100 companies by sales invested 5.44 trillion won in the areas of environment and safety last year, up 87.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the report from the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI).

The jump came as their greenhouse gas emissions increased nearly 5 percent in 2022 from a year earlier.

Those businesses emitted a combined 267.3 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent last year, 4.7 percent more than a year earlier.

A CO2 equivalent is a standardized barometer of the climate effects of various greenhouse gases.

The FKI, the lobby for family-controlled conglomerates in Asia's fourth-largest economy, attributed the rise to increased corporate production stemming from eased Covid-19 restrictions and more state fiscal spending.

Yet their greenhouse gas emissions compared with sales came to 23,000 tons of CO2 equivalent in 2022, down 13.5 percent from the previous year

The FKI also said the top corporations ramped up their efforts to further promote ESG management.

For example, Posco pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 in line with the government's plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, known as the nationally determined contributions.

ESG weighs certain factors to evaluate companies on how advanced they are in the sectors of environmental protection, social justice and business ethics.

Yonhap