Accounting Industry, Successive 'Carbon Neutrality' Declarations

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jihwan] Declarations of carbon neutrality are continuously emerging in the accounting industry. Although the carbon emissions are lower compared to industries such as manufacturing due to the nature of the sector, this is interpreted as a strong commitment to actively participate in addressing the climate crisis, as decarbonization has become a mega trend in the global economy.

According to the accounting industry on the 27th, starting with Samil, Anjin, and Samjeong last year, and recently Han Young, all major domestic accounting firms are participating in the carbon neutrality declaration. Currently, more than 120 countries including South Korea have declared or are pursuing carbon neutrality. Carbon neutrality refers to policies where the carbon dioxide emitted by companies or individuals is reabsorbed, adjusting the amount of carbon dioxide emitted and absorbed to be equal, thereby making the total carbon dioxide amount zero (0). President Moon Jae-in emphasized in his speech at the 'Climate Adaptation Summit' on the 25th that "Korea will steadfastly move toward '2050 Carbon Neutrality.'"

The accounting industry mostly sets the target achievement year as 2030, which is 20 years earlier than 2050. They also plan to increase the use of renewable energy through joining 'RE100.' RE100 is a global campaign where companies pledge to procure 100% of their electricity from renewable energy, with over 280 participants including Google and Apple.

The implementation plans are also concrete. Samil Accounting Firm, the first among domestic accounting firms to declare carbon zero implementation, decided to gradually replace corporate vehicles in operation with hybrid and electric vehicles. They also plan to operate satellite offices by region to reduce business travel distances. Additionally, they will rapidly advance the digitization of work processes that have been ongoing so far. Lee Joonghyun, Net Zero Leader at Samil Accounting Firm, said, "Core agendas that are very important to enhancing social sustainability such as accounting transparency and ESG (environment, social, governance) are connected to accounting firms," adding, "We must actively respond and share solutions to contribute to enhancing social sustainability."

Anjin Accounting Firm plans to reduce business trips by 50% compared to 2019 by 2030 and cooperate so that two-thirds of partner companies can adopt carbon reduction targets. Along with this, they will introduce solutions based on entrepreneurship for carbon reduction. A representative from Anjin Accounting Firm stated, "It is important to note that this is not a goal unique to Deloitte but a goal to be achieved together with partner companies," emphasizing, "To effectively respond to mega trends like climate change, it is more effective to create a community of companies sharing the same goals rather than individual corporate responses."

Samjeong Accounting Firm developed a carbon forecasting model capable of bottom-up target setting by deploying in-house experts at the KPMG global level. This model can specifically present how the pathways and impacts of carbon emissions and policy changes by industry may affect greenhouse gas emissions. In particular, they plan to track and manage progress toward goals by measuring and reporting to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). A representative from Samjeong Accounting Firm said, "At the KPMG global level, through partnerships with organizations such as UNESCO, we not only help people severely affected by the learning crisis but also support corporate clients in establishing ESG agendas toward sustainability."

Han Young Accounting Firm has a plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025, more than five years earlier than the industry. Starting this year, they declared to realize 'carbon negative,' which means making net carbon dioxide emissions negative, going beyond carbon neutrality for the first time in the industry. They plan to reduce office electricity usage and replace all other electricity demand with 100% renewable energy to achieve RE100 by 2025. They also plan to require 75% of suppliers providing goods to EY to establish scientifically based carbon reduction targets (SBT). They will develop and introduce necessary programs so that employees can directly calculate and reduce the amount of carbon emitted during work. Park Yonggeun, CEO of EY Han Young, stated, "In an era where ESG is emphasized, we will take the lead in exemplary corporate activities in the industry that aim for substantial results rather than 'declarative' actions."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.