KT&G Publishes '2020 KT&G REPORT' Highlighting ESG Management Achievements

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] KT&G published the ‘2020 KT&G REPORT’ on the 1st, detailing the achievements of its ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management and social contribution activities.

In this report, KT&G revealed its mid- to long-term ESG vision along with sustainable management strategies to achieve it. The ESG value creation areas linked to business were defined as the ‘6 Key Focus Areas,’ with plans to strengthen these to enhance future growth potential. The six key focus areas consist of ‘Strengthening the growth of sustainability-contributing businesses,’ ‘Implementing environmental responsibility across the value chain,’ ‘Developing responsible products,’ ‘Creating a sustainable industrial ecosystem,’ ‘Enhancing talent management and human rights protection,’ and ‘Advancing governance and strengthening implementation capabilities.’

To this end, KT&G established detailed mid- to long-term goals that go beyond mere declarations to promote concrete goal fulfillment and tangible change. These include phased strategies to achieve environmental management goals such as ‘2050 Carbon Neutrality,’ 100% use of recyclable materials for packaging by 2025, conducting 100% human rights impact assessments expanded to overseas subsidiaries as well as domestic ones, and contributing to the social and environmental value enhancement of domestic flue-cured tobacco farms. Additionally, the scale of social contribution projects related to business will be more than doubled compared to 2020.

Notably, this report quantifies and discloses the achievements of sustainable management for the first time. This converts the contribution to social value into monetary units, estimating that the social, economic, and environmental value created by KT&G in 2020 amounts to approximately 1.2 trillion KRW, exceeding last year’s business revenue (net profit). Furthermore, to strengthen ESG competitiveness at the group level, the scope of information disclosure was expanded to include subsidiary businesses, revealing key ESG data from KGC Ginseng Corporation and Youngjin Pharmaceutical.

The separately compiled social contribution activity report, ‘S-REPORT,’ contains detailed responsible activities based on the promotion system of ‘Hope,’ ‘Coexistence,’ and ‘Creativity.’ KT&G delivers ‘Hope’ to marginalized groups through welfare and scholarship projects, operates ‘Sangsang Madang’ and ‘Sangsang Univ’ to enable artists and youth to unleash ‘Creative’ imagination, and fulfills the role of ‘Coexistence’ required of corporate citizens through support projects such as youth entrepreneurship, global CSR, and the Sangsang Fund. Last year, KT&G led efforts to overcome COVID-19 by activating a ‘3-Stage Contingency Plan’ to navigate the national disaster situation together.

KT&G has been publishing reports since 2007 to communicate its commitment to sustainable management and transparent, accurate ESG information to domestic and international stakeholders. The ‘2020 KT&G REPORT’ was prepared according to the international sustainability reporting standards, the ‘GRI Standards,’ and incorporated recommendations from global organizations such as the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) to enhance objectivity and reliability.

Baek Bok-in, CEO of KT&G, stated, “Implementing environmental responsibility across the entire value chain and managing sustainable supply chains are no longer responsibilities only for ‘future generations’ but risks and opportunities for ‘us now.’ Through creating sustainable management value linked to business, we will establish a foundation to enhance corporate value and, based on this, strengthen future business growth potential.”

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