Disclosure of Environmental Assessment System for 25 Industry Classification Standards... Supporting Corporate Management

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] The government’s environmental performance evaluation system to support domestic companies’ environmental management has been unveiled. The evaluation system provides incentives to companies with excellent environmental performance while helping companies improve their environmental impact on their own.

The Ministry of Environment and the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute announced on the 18th that they have released the "Environmental Performance Evaluation System Guidelines." According to the evaluation system, it is expected that financial institutions will be able to make environmentally responsible investment decisions and companies will be able to improve their environmental performance. Environmental performance refers to the impact on the environment from resource and energy consumption, pollutant emissions, and other factors throughout a company’s entire business activities.

The environmental performance evaluation system was developed to provide benefits (incentives) to companies with excellent environmental performance and to support companies in using self-assessment as an opportunity to improve their environmental impact. By utilizing the environmental information database collected and managed by the Ministry of Environment, a highly reliable and objective evaluation system was established by presenting evaluation indicators focused on quantitative metrics.

The evaluation system newly established 25 industry classification criteria suitable for evaluation to enable comparisons between environmentally similar companies. Based on the environmental information database, pollutant emission characteristics and industry similarities were analyzed, and the existing middle classification (77 categories) within the Korean Standard Industrial Classification (KSIC) was reorganized into 25 industry classifications to enhance the reliability and comparability of the evaluation.

Scores are allocated with 25 points each in four areas: greenhouse gases, air pollution, water resources, and waste, totaling 100 points as the basic section. Additionally, 10 points are added for companies’ environmental certification achievements, and 10 points are deducted if violations of environmental laws and regulations are confirmed.

The pollutant emission indicator is calculated by dividing emissions by sales revenue. It reflects reduction performance, industry position, and industry risk level, with higher weights given to greater reduction efforts.

The Ministry of Environment plans to advance the environmental performance evaluation system so that it can replace the "Green Management Company Financial Support System" and provide evaluation results to partner financial institutions. It will also develop environmentally responsible investment financial products for outstanding companies in collaboration with the financial sector. The environmental performance evaluation system will be incorporated as a core evaluation indicator in the Korean Green Taxonomy (K-Taxonomy).

On the same day, the Ministry of Environment and the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute launched the "Comprehensive Platform for Environmentally Responsible Investment." The platform provides information related to environmentally responsible investment, including K-Taxonomy, the environmental performance evaluation system, and the environmental information disclosure system.

Services such as "Green Bond Post-Reporting," which shows the environmental improvement effects of green bonds, and a corporate environmental performance self-assessment service will also be provided. Users can view carbon reduction cases in daily life, major international organization reports, and the status of green bond issuance.

Jang Gi-bok, Director of the Green Transition Policy Division at the Ministry of Environment, said, "For environmentally responsible investment to take root, related systems such as the environmental performance evaluation system and K-Taxonomy must develop in a virtuous cycle. We will build infrastructure that practically supports environmentally responsible investment by financial institutions and continuously gather feedback."

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