[The Hwankyung Ilbo] Most of the top 10 groups emphasized their willingness to respond to the climate crisis, citing carbon neutrality or ESG (environmental, social, and governance) management, but their major group affiliates' efforts to reduce greenhouse gases lag far behind those of overseas global companies.

Greenpeace, an international environmental organization, held a press conference at 11 a.m. on the 8th at Emerald Hall of the FKI Center in Yeouido, Seoul to announce the launch of the "RE Energy" campaign to urge domestic companies to use 100% renewable energy. 

In the same report, Greenpeace urged the nation's top 10 conglomerates to take responsibility for the climate crisis and convert 100% of their electricity to renewable energy, pointing out that electricity used by the nation's top 100 companies in a year is 1.2 times more than that used by 20 million households.

For this survey, Greenpeace conducted a survey of 100 affiliates in the top 10 groups from April 12 to May 7 asking about ▷ status of renewable energy use ▷ 100% renewable energy procurement plan ▷ specific implementation plan of electricity used.

This is the first time a survey has identified the current status of renewable energy and short-term goals of major affiliates of the nation's top 10 conglomerates.

Yang Yeon-ho, Greenpeace Climate Energy Campaigner, said, "As expanding the use of renewable energy is the surest way to reduce greenhouse gases, we saw the current status and target level of renewable energy as an important measure of each group's response to the climate crisis." 

"In addition to the size of greenhouse gases emitted by major teenage groups, considering their share and influence in the domestic economy, we need to convert 100% of our electricity used from the level of major group companies to renewable energy," he explained. 

Big business owners, carbon neutral in words only.

In fact, the government announced its carbon neutrality goal in 2050 last year, and the government and management community vowed to make this year the first year of "ESG management," expressing their willingness to respond to the climate crisis.

In the POSCO Climate Action Report published in December last year, POSCO Chairman Choi Jung-woo stressed that various leading companies, including POSCO, should play a key role in finding ways to reach a low-carbon society.

▷"As a global renewable energy leader, we will accelerate environmental management to lead the era of carbon zero" (Chairman Kim Seung-yeon of Hanwha Group) ▷"Make ESG a better environment" (Chairman Kwon O-gap of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group) ▷ "In order to achieve sustainable growth."

Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Eui-sun also mentioned specific goals at a preliminary event of the P4G Seoul Summit in May, saying, "We will achieve carbon neutrality in all processes such as automobile manufacturing, operation and disposal." 

However, according to the report card released this time, unlike the external message from the group leader, most groups lacked internal implementation plans or goals to cope with the climate crisis. Only 44 out of 100 affiliates in the top 10 groups responded to the survey, and only 25 of them had specific target years and implementation plans to expand renewable energy.

At the group level, all affiliates of SK and Samsung responded to the survey and said they had 100% renewable energy procurement plans, but received C+ because many affiliates did not set a target year or were late in implementation. It is the highest score among Korean groups.

However, most groups, including Lotte, Hanwha, GS, Hyundai Heavy Industries, and Nonghyup, said that all affiliates did not participate in the survey or were in a difficult stage to disclose to the public, staying at the lowest point of F.  

In the case of LG and POSCO, which responded to the target of achieving 100% of renewable energy and the year of implementation at half of their affiliates, it was D.

Regarding the target year for achieving 100 percent renewable energy, 21 out of 25 companies said they plan to achieve 100 percent renewable energy by 2050, while 4 other companies, including Samsung C&T (2030), Samsung SDS (2045), LG Innotek (2030), and Nonghyup Bank (2040), said they plan to achieve 100 percent renewable energy.

The average year of achieving 100% of renewable energy for all respondents is 2048.

However, this is more than 20 years behind the target year for 100% renewable energy use by major global companies.

As of June 2021, 317 companies signed up for RE100, a voluntary campaign to procure 100% of the electricity needed for corporate activities by up to 2050, and their target year to achieve 100% of renewable energy is 2028. 

Including Apple and Google, there are already 53 places that procure 100% of their electricity through renewable energy.

Currently, only eight South Korean companies have joined the global RE100 initiative (SK Hynix, SK Telecom, SK Holdings, SK Materials, SK Siltron, SKC), LG Energy Solution, and AmorePacific. 

Hyundai Motor Group seeks to join RE100:

Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor Group, which received the lowest score of F in the survey, said it plans to join RE100 on July 7, a day before the launch of the campaign, aiming for 100 percent renewable energy in 2050.

"We welcome the official announcement of 100 percent of renewable energy from five Hyundai Motor Group companies," campaigner Yang Yeon-ho said. "It still seems difficult to give high marks to Hyundai Motor Group's leadership in responding to the climate crisis, such as the absence of Hyundai Steel and Hyundai Engineering."

Jang Da-ul, a policy expert at Greenpeace, pointed out, "Major global companies are asking their partners to use renewable energy beyond 100% renewable energy, and the European Union is predicting the introduction of carbon border taxes and unveiling related bills." 

"As expanding renewable energy is not only an important factor that will determine the success or failure of the national economy as well as the survival of companies, the government and the next presidential candidates should present a vision for responding to the climate crisis and energy conversion," he stressed.

The RE Energy campaign, which calls for Korean companies to expand their use of renewable energy, is a Korean version of the campaign launched in Greenpeace, Australia in 2019.

Greenpeace, Australia, launched a reenergy campaign in 2019 to urge 54 power consumption companies in Australia to use 100% renewable energy, and so far 14 have declared that they will supply 100% of their electricity to renewable energy by 2025.

The domestic campaign will be conducted with Climate Media Hub, an organization specializing in climate response communication, and Greenpeace will continue to drive the expansion of renewable energy use in the domestic industrial sector, starting with urging changes in the nation's top 10 groups.