Top 30 conglomerates to invest $129 billion in environment by 2030

The total amount of investment in environment-related areas pledged by Korea’s 30 largest conglomerates will exceed 153 trillion won (about 129 billion U.S. dollars), a new report showed. As major Korean conglomerates emphasize environment, social and governance (ESG) in the course of business reshuffles and investment, they have shown the keenest interest in environment.

The Federation of Korean Industries said Sunday it published a “ESG White Paper” based on its survey and sustainability reports published by member companies of its K-ESG Alliance run by the federation.

According to the White Paper, the top 30 conglomerates announced plans to invest a total of 153.2 trillion won (about 129.5 billion dollars) in the environment field by the year 2030. Global mergers and acquisitions took a lion’s share of large-scale investments. SK acquired a 10-percent stake in Japanese eco-friendly materials company TBM for 140 billion won (118 million dollars), while Hanwha Solution bought 100-percent stake in RES France, a French renewable energy development company, for 1 trillion won (845 million dollars). Linde Hydrogen Energy, a joint venture between Hyosung Heavy Industries and Germany’s Linde Group, started construction of the world’s largest liquified hydrogen plant. In this year’s first half alone, as many as 58 companies issued ESG bonds, including green bonds and social bonds.

Also, a growing number of companies are declaring “Net Zero.” LG Electronics (2030), SK Corporation (2040), Hyundai Kia Automotive Group (2045), and Hanwha Solution (2050) announced their pledges to achieve Net Zero by removing the same volume of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere as they emit.


will@donga.com