SK, First Private Company to Establish 'Carbon Reduction Certification Center'... Accelerating Net Zero Management

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyewon] SK Group has established a specialized organization that certifies carbon reduction methods and the amount of carbon reduced, becoming the first private company in Korea to do so, in an effort to strengthen the execution of Net Zero.

SK Group announced on the 25th that it recently established the SK Carbon Reduction Certification Center (hereinafter referred to as the Certification Center) and began full-scale activities from the 23rd. The Certification Center was set up under the Environmental Business Committee (Chairman Kim Joon, President of SK Innovation) newly established this year within the SK Supex Council, the group's highest management deliberative body.

The Certification Center will function as a shared infrastructure that systematically supports eco-friendly management at the group level, such as Net Zero, by utilizing SK's independently developed SK Carbon Reduction Certification Standards. This standard is a system that evaluates and certifies methods and reduction achievements of carbon reduction through products and services of SK affiliates. It was created by benchmarking the United Nations (UN) CDM, recognized as a global standard in this field, and VERRA, a representative private certification body in the United States. The system introduces a method to quantify carbon reduction efforts and achievements for objective evaluation.

Earlier, SK CEOs jointly resolved the Net Zero declaration at the expanded group management meeting in June, committing to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions ahead of the global carbon neutrality target year of 2050 to overcome the climate crisis. At that time, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won emphasized, "Net Zero is not a matter of whether to do it or not, but a matter of competitiveness, so we must move faster than others," urging rapid promotion of Net Zero.

Going forward, the Certification Center plans to evaluate the carbon reduction methodologies and amounts proposed by SK affiliates based on criteria such as ▲Actuality (whether all emission sources have been identified) ▲Additionality (whether additional efforts for carbon reduction have been made) ▲Sustainability (whether the reduction effect is sustainable).

For example, when using SK Lubricants' low-viscosity premium lubricants that improve automobile fuel efficiency and reduce fuel consumption, the Certification Center will verify the amount of carbon reduced and certify the reduction performance and methodology.

By the end of the year, the Certification Center plans to finalize the review and certification of more than 10 carbon reduction methodologies, including SK Innovation's electric vehicle batteries, SK Hynix's low-power semiconductors, and SK Lubricants' eco-friendly lubricants.

To enhance the reliability and objectivity of certification, third-party pre-verification involving accounting firms and consulting companies has been made mandatory. Additionally, 50% of the six certification committee members responsible for certification review are external experts.

An SK official said, "Carbon reduction evaluations conducted through foreign private companies involve complicated procedures and take an average of about one year and six months to certify, whereas the SK Certification Center can significantly shorten that period to around six months." He added, "Through the Certification Center, we also expect to discover more carbon emission sources and enhance environmental business capabilities such as the credit market."

SK plans to create a virtuous cycle of green management by databasing the carbon reduction achievements created by affiliates and sharing them with various stakeholders.

Jo Kyung-mok, Chairman of the Green Parity Subcommittee of the SK Environmental Business Committee and President of SK Energy, said, "As the first certification center established by a private company, we plan to make special efforts to gain trust from external evaluation agencies and investors." He added, "In the mid to long term, we will grow it into a platform leading a voluntary carbon market ecosystem with participation from various players."

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